Code Geass: Rise of the Black Harpie
by Ninja12
Summary: Britannia ruthlessly carried out the SAZ massacre, framing the Black Knights in the process. With support crumbling and enemies closing in, the rebellion seems doomed to fail. But Zero has found his secret weapon, a certain princess and vice-roy that will do anything to see Britannia fall.
1. Chapter 1

**Command Center of the G-1 Mobile Fortress**

**Friday, Day of the SAZ Opening**

**10:00 AM**

Cornelia sat in a command desk reserved for lead generals or the royal family, placed front and center on the command deck of the mobile fortress. She was alone in the dark room, outside lights barely silhouetting the surrounding equipment. The temperature soared in the absence of air conditioning. The mobile fortress had been deliberately disabled and isolated in preparation of Euphemia's one on one meeting with Zero.

But Cornelia was paying her surroundings little heed. A single blazing monitor on top of a desk displayed a long hallway, courtesy of the skeleton camera system she'd installed for this very reason. The main cameras may have been disengaged, but she could still see everything.

The view clicked again, and there they were. Zero and Euphemia, walking into a side room.

She gripped the railings of the chair unconsciously. Her right hand twitched to the gun concealed in her uniform.

_No. _She grimaced, forcefully setting her hands back upon her sides. _This is in Euphemia's hands._

* * *

Zero and Euphemia entered the empty chamber. Emergency lights provided minimal brightness to the dark and foreboding atmosphere. Though the room was of medium size, it was utterly bare of unnecessary furniture. Several steel tables lined in reverse towards the back, all covered with white tablecloths bearing the Britannian emblem. There was a second open doorway in the back of the room.

As the two powers moved to opposite sides of one such table, Euphemia chided playfully. "Won't you take off the mask? I know who you are Le-"

"No. Don't say it. I have no idea if we're being watched or not."

There was a brief pause. Lelouch sighed in a deep undertone. Deliberately, He reached into the folds of his suit and revealed a small grey item.

He held it out; a gun. "This is a needle gun. Fashioned out of silicon, it can not be picked up on any metal detector." His voice was low, threatening.

* * *

"Euphemia!"

Cornelia saw the gun and panicked. Her face went pale as she cocked her own weapon, prepared to barrel forward and rescue her sister. They were both just down the hall, if she moved quick, she could for sure cut off Zero before he got the chance. But the next words that bleed through the surveillance camera stopped her in her tracks.

_"Zero, I know you're not going to shoot me."_

Cornelia looked back at the monitor. She knew that tone. It was an element of complete certainty.

Euthemia absolutely believed that Zero would not shoot her.

"Dammit Zero!" She slammed the blunt end of her gun against the steel walls. The waves of sound clashed throughout the room. She steadied herself with a deep breath.

_We all have our battles. I have to let Euphemia fight hers. _Against her better judgment, Cornelia remained steadfast at the doorway, inclined to listen for the time being.

* * *

Euphemia shook her head in a sad sort of way.

"Zero, I know you're not going to shoot me."

"I'm not going to shoot you." Lelouch said forcefully. "You're going to shoot me. You will cause open revolt and mayhem. Your popularity will instantly plummet, and I will have my revolution."

"But why? Why choose this path?" Euphemia asked.

"Why? Why shouldn't I?" Lelouch extended his arms in an exasperated flourish. "You've nullified most of my future campaigns to liberate Japan. And this special zone, people have flocked here from all over, don't think that you by yourself can guarantee their safety." Lelouch faced backwards. "I give it a month before people get slaughtered. You, and everyone else, will become an irresistible target to every patriotic Britannian."

He stared at the marble floor. He could visualize it in his mind's eye, a brutal slaughter predetermined the day the SAZ was established. Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, running and screaming against the unrelenting terrors. Bombs. Explosions. Shots ringing out, rivers of a blood red flow and there, Euphemia, standing amidst the killing, only able to stare straight on as a _Sutherland_ decked in blue and purple turned and raised its gun and….

He felt arms wrap around him, stubbing the rampant flow of thought. Euphemia hugged him close, head nestled on his back. Lelouch froze for a second, before his own shacking hands clasped her arms.

Underneath the mask, he smiled lightly. If they hadn't been abandoned in Japan, If Nunnally hadn't lost her legs and eyes, if his mother hadn't been assassinated, how things could've been different.

* * *

"Disgusting, Euphemia's actions around that terrorist!" Cornelia's teeth ground together. "Acting like they know each other!"

* * *

"Zero, that's why I need your help." Euphemia whispered, backing out of the embrace. Her face was deadest and grim. Lelouch realized that she already factored in the element of Britannia's treachery. "I can't do this by myself."

"Any why would I help a Britannian Princess?" Words joking, but tone suggesting that he still wanted an answer.

Euphemia chuckled a bit. "Ah now here's something you don't know. It'll probably be publicly announced sometime soon." She took a deep breath. "I've renounced my claim to the throne."

* * *

_"I've renounced my claim to the throne."_

"She's WHAT!" Cornelia shouted, forgetting the fact that Zero and Euphemia were in the room down the hall. She dashed back to the monitor, not believing her ears.

"She's…. really renounced the throne? Why wasn't I told of this!" Cornelia seethed, prepared to bring down the house on the errant worker who failed to inform her.

_But more importantly, why was Euphemia telling Zero?_

* * *

"You've…. you've renounced your claim to the throne?" Lelouch took a step back, genuinely shocked by Euphemia's actions.

"Why of course, it was a simple choice. I had to give up something for harboring the terrorist Zero." Euphemia smiled.

Lelouch reared backwards and gripped his mask with his hand for support as he took in this new piece of information. There was a still moment.

"Euphemia…. you are the worst opponent I have ever faced." Lelouch said softly, before laughing uproariously. He suddenly turned about with a dramatic twist of his cape

"In a typically Euphemia styled manner, you made all of your choices by heart, and still managed to win everything. Very well." Lelouch stood straight and resolute, hand on his heart.

"I swear to help you and your Special Administrative Zone."

" You.. you will? Thank you!" Euphemia let out an audible sigh of relief that was not lost on Zero.

"Ha, you should have more confidence in yourself, princess, you beat the famed leader of the Black Nights." Lelouch said teasingly.

"I know I'm just…. happy." Lelouch shook his head with a smile. Such a cheesy that line that was entirely fitting of Euphemia.

* * *

Cornelia stood, intensely watching Zero and Euphemia's actions from the monitor.

"Euphemia did it. She actually managed to do it." Cornelia said, voice filled with pride in her younger sibling, despite her obvious distaste for Zero. "Typical Euphemia styled manner indeed!"

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

A flashing red light appeared from the top of the screen; people moving in the fortress.

"Who…" Cornelia began, tense again. _Britanians? No one else was allowed in here, on Euphemia's orders!_

Appearing on the screen were a dozen combat ready Britanian soldiers. They were dressed with black pads and extensive bulletproofing across their bodies. Each carried an array of weapons, ranging from multiple pistols to the smaller flash bombs clipped to their sides. All wore night gear lenses. Any normal soldier would've collapsed under the sheer weight.

_Looks like…. OSI soldiers. Special combat units strictly conditioned to be the best of mobile infantry. What in the blazes are they doing here? Unless…._

_They were here to kill Zero._

Cornelia eyed the monitor in disgust at the treachery of Britannia. _Zero. Anytime else and I would've let you die like a dog._ Cornelia quickly tapped a button on her earpiece, tuning into their audio channel.

"This is Vice-Roy Cornelia. Soldiers, you are ordered to STAND DOWN." Cornelia waited a split second for the order to be carried out.

It was not. The black garbed soldiers crept onwards, closer and closer to Zero and Euphemia.

"Are you DEAF soldiers? I said STAND DOWN!" she shouted into the com link. Still no response.

_Oh no. _She thought. _They're not taking orders from me. I've got no control._

And then, a worse thought.

_If Euphemia gets caught in the crossfire..._

There was a metallic crash from behind as a door was kicked down. Two figures entered the room, brandishing their guns and advancing quickly. Cornelia identified them as belong to the OSI group of special infantry.

"Stay back you-" Cornelia whipped out her gun. Before she could bring to it full bare, the figure on the left charged forward, grabbing her right arm and pinning it behind her back. The gun clattered uselessly to the floor. The other attacker slammed Cornelia's head against the desk.

"Who… who are you getting your orders from?" Cornelia asked, a trickle of blood escaping from the corner of her mouth.

The soldier on the left cocked their face at her, eyes unreadable behind glowing green night vision goggles. "We have received our orders from the Royal Council."

Cornelia breathed out. The Royal Council... a council created when a majority of the Royal Family are present, sanctified by the Emperor himself. Besides the words of the emperor itself, the Royal Council was law.

There was no way around it.

Zero was a dead man.

* * *

Lelouch's ears perked up moments before they entered the room. He barely had time to crouch below the tablecloth before a squad of five Britanian soldiers filed into the room.

_Treachery…. _He clenched his teeth and eyed his fallen gun with regret. _Of course Britannia would make use of this golden opportunity. And I fell for it. _Lelouch's eyes flicked about the outskirts of the room.

No exits. No escape.

_Trapped!_

"What is the meaning of this!" Euphemia shouted in a brazen tone. "This was ordered to be a private meeting between me and Zero! I won't allow you to harm him!"

A lone figure stood forward from the pack "We apologize for the inconvenience, your highness." The figure stated with a short bow. The voice was low and gruff, male.

He unsheathed an official looking document and began to read it. "These are the official orders from the Royal Council-"

"The Royal Council…" Euphemia inhaled at sound of that name. Her mind tumbled forward, looking for a plan. She'd distract them! Faint, collapse, tumble. She had to buy Lelouch time!

"-so without wait, we carry out the assassination of Euphemia Li Britannia, third princess of Britannia."

* * *

"Wh…. what?!" Cornelia squirmed against the arms of her captor. "Assassinate…. Euphemia? NO!" She gathered her conviction and jumped back, smashing a soldier back against the steel bulkhead. "I WON'T ALLOW IT!"

The other had already drawn their gun, tranquilizers clearly loaded. Cornelia dashed forward with a frenzied look in her eyes. She snagged the first soldiers body and held it up to absorb the darts.

With a grunt, Cornelia heaved the body forward, knocking the wind out of the second soldier. In a blink of an eye, her gun was in hand and aimed at the fallen warrior. The green eyes of the night vision goggles didn't plead as she pulled the trigger.

She darted to the body of the fallen soldier, reaching in to find the clasp that held a line of black capsules in place. A rustle from the opposite side of the room notified her of the first soldier's awakening. Her arm blurred as she turned and fired, a single shot to the neck.

There was a soft thump as the Specials Ops soldier collapsed, dead.

But Cornelia was already down the hall, sprinting full out and praying that she'd be in time.

* * *

Lelouch, crouched behind the table, listening to the soldiers in shock. _The assassination of Euphemia! _He felt a surge of deep rooted anger. _Treacherous scum!_

His gloved arms grasped at straws of empty air. _How! How! All the soldiers had night vision goggles on, all the soldiers are armed, all the soldiers are elite. He was caught defenseless and without anything! Nothing!_

His eyes gazed forward at Euphemia, her slim form pressed backwards at the wall behind, face comprehending all too much.

"Who… who would order this? Why, why would anyone?" She slumped forward, stricken, her precious ideals finally confronted with reality. "All I wanted… was a gentler world…."

The soldier nodded and raised his gun. "Your majesty, you have my thanks for this wondrous opportunity to cleanse Area 11 of these cockroaches. Your death is a true loss. You have my condolences-"

Lelouch faltered as his sight shifted. His mother lay haphazardly on the grand stair, still, unmoving, riddled with bullet wounds. Underneath her laid Nunnally. Hands shaking. Blood spilled down her yellow dress. And eyes… empty.

They haunted him.

And he could only stare at the sight before him. What was he? Weak, weak, nothing! Not strong enough to stop from being exiled, not strong enough to fight the invasion, never strong enough!

But he had made himself strong.

He had shaped a force that would shake the world! The man of miracles! Zero!

And he'd be damned if he was helpless again.

* * *

Cornelia sprinted forward in massive bounds, desperate. She clutched her gun with an iron grip, only to prevent her arm from trembling with fear.

_Euphemia, please! _Cornelia turned corner and focused on the still doorframe. Words spilled in from the room beyond.

"Your death is a true loss. You have my condolences-" A single shot resounded through the vacant hall.

"EUPHEMIA!" Cornelia shouted, doubling her speed. "By the gods I'LL SKIN YOU ALIVE! YOU WON'T LEAVE UNSCATHED-"

Cornelia darted through the doorway and stopped, shocked to a standpoint for the second time in a day.

Euphemia lay crouched with her back turned to the wall. Her eyes were wide, hands covering her face. A fine spray of red lightly covered the top left of her dress.

But she was unharmed. Cornelia stifled a breath of relief.

Before her stood Zero, resolute, excluding the smug air of confidence that constantly accompanied him. His arms and cape were spread wide, shielding Euphemia from view.

A red blossom grew from the top left of Zero's regal coat.

In a play of slow time, Zero collapsed backwards, pivoting on his back heel. His cloak flowed behind him as his hands slumped to his side. There was only a muffled thump as Zero collapsed on the ground.

"Zero!" Euphemia was instantly at his side, eyes pleading. Her hands fumbled with the buttons to the uniform.

"Tch." The lead soldier grunted. He raised his gun for a second volley "This changes nothing! You die here and-"

"Euphemia! Cover your eyes!"

Cornelia tossed the flash capsules into the room, detonating them with following shots from her gun. She scrambled forward after the violent glare faded, jerking Euphemia to her legs. Euphemia stuttered several steps forward and stopped.

"Wait! We can't leave Zero." Cornelia clenched her teeth and turned backwards. _Cowardly terrorist he might be, but he saved Euphemia's life._

She hoisted Zero on her arms and continued forward, noting dimly that the soldiers were already recovering from their momentary blindness, stripping off their night vision lenses. _Damn, new night vision goggles. That should've left them blind for hours at least!_

Unknown to either inhabitant of the room, a barely conscious Zero fingered the button that drew back the slot to his left eye. Crimson fire surged forward from the winged sigil of Geass.

"Die" he whispered. He closed his eyes as Euthemia and Cornelia turned through the doorway.

The duo and the fallen terrorist continued to scamper through the empty passages, looking for an exit.

"Where are we going?" Euphemia asked. The sounds of approaching footsteps increased.

Cornelia reached a hand to her communicator. "Guilford, come in! Repeat, Guilford, do you read me?" Her only reply was the faint sound of crackling static.

She switched channels. "Dalton, can you hear me?" No response. She immediately flicked to the final party that could offer them assistance.

"SUZAKU! COME IN SUZAKU!"

She waited a second longer for any response. Damn! Guilford, Dalton, Suzaku... they've already gotten to all of them!

Cornelia looked forward with growing apprehension. _Don't panic. DON'T PANIC. Think of a plan. Something to fight. Something to use. Something to escape..._

Her mind traveled to Zero's surprise entrance to the SAZ. "Zero's knightmare, the Gawain! Its flight capabilities can help our escape!"

"But…. what of our soldiers? Can't they help us?" Euphemia asked.

"No. Orders are coming straight from the Royal Council," Cornelia snarled. "We can only assume that our chain of command has been isolated."_ This morning, there was a new transferred regiment of knightmare pilots for this ceremony. No doubt completely loyal to the Royal Council._

She grunted as she increased her pace. Strangely enough, the previous batch of soldiers appeared to have halted their chase. But a resh regiment had plowed down the staircase, right on their heels.

The two reentered the massive stadium, the crowds of Japanese cheering at the sight of them. Cornelia scanned the area quickly, trying to find any other alternative.

There was none.

Euphemia's attention was drawn to the knightmares dispersed throughout the crowd. Small carts had been pulled alongside of them, delivering bright orange rounds.

_Gas grenades!_ She thought. She recalled the soldier's words; "_I thank you for this opportunity to cleanse Area 11 of the cockroaches." _Her eyes widened. It would be a massacre!

_They were planning this from the start!_

"What a fool I've been!"

* * *

C.C. scrambled forward at the sight of the two princesses and Zero. The red mark smudging half of his chest did not escape her notice.

_That pulse I felt earlier, it must've been Lelouch!_

Shots broke out from the opening of the Mobile Fortress as black garbed soldiers swarmed out of the entrance, night-vision goggles discarded.

_Britannian soldiers as well? Now this is getting interesting._

Euphemia suddenly broke away from Cornelia, hurtling towards the microphone. There was a short whine as the microphone was turned on.

"JAPANESE! RUN IT'S A TRAP! THEY… THEY'RE PLANNING A MASSACRE." Euphemia breathed in and allowed for a second of indulgence. "And… I'm sorry."

Cornelia paused mid stride to the Gawain, preparing to turn around to help Euphemia.

"Wait!" C.C. called. Cornelia's eyes meet hers. To Cornelia's surprise, she detected no surprise in this white garbed woman that a princess of Britannia was carrying Zero's wounded body. They nodded in mutual agreement as Cornelia transferred Zero to C.C.

"You have ninety seconds before I leave." C.C. stated calmly as she sharply turned. Cornelia nodded again and darted back to Euphemia, whispering under her breath about her sister's foolishness.

C.C felt Lelouch's hearbeat through the fabric of his Zero costume as she made her way back to the Gawain.

_Good. Still alive._

She deposited Zero in the forward seat, turning back quickly to watch the two princesses.

The strange soldiers had closed the gap to twenty feet and were firing at Euphemia.

In the time of a second, two bullets tagged Euphemia; one in her leg, and one in her right arm. Cornelia jumped in front of Euphemia, returning fire with a low caliber firearm. She jerked back three time but rebounded instantaneously.

_Bullet proofing underneath her uniform. Heh. _C.C. thought.

Meanwhile the crowd of Elevens had been thrown into panic. People were trampled afoot the wild movements of the frenzied crowds. The combination of shooting and Euphemia's warning had been enough to propel mass hysteria.

SHHHK. There was a pop as an orange canister was lobbed into the crowd.

It vanished in the back. One second passed, then another. With a small pop, an orange burst of gas erupted from the same location, engulfing everyone within a 20 foot radius. The chemical cloud dispersed as quickly as it had come.

And in its wake were the dead.

C.C. paused, the horror of such actions vomit inducing, even to her. Mass genocide! They're going to kill everyone!

Above her, the sky became blotted with orange rain.

* * *

**Outside the Stadium**

**10:15 AM**

Kallen anxiously thumbed the trigger switch of the_ Guren MK-II_, watching the broadcast on screen. Zero had situated them there as a precaution, both for his safety and the other Japanese. But she still couldn't fathom it, Zero deliberately playing into the hands of their nemesis.

Britannia.

"Nnn, this waiting!" Kallen punched the sides of the cockpit around her. The uncomfortableness of the cockpit did nothing to help her mood. Though a perfect streamlined position for combat, sitting in that position for hours on end was nothing more than torture. She stared back at the news report to pass the time.

"It looks like someone is exiting the Mobile Fortress, It's the princess! And she's-" The report was suddenly cut off, fading to a black error screen.

"What…" She whispered. But Zero had even planned for this eventuality. "Black Knights, switch to the internal cameras in the stadium."

With a click, the error screen flashed into a full HD display of the entire stadium. Kallen's breath caught in her throat.

"ZERO!" She whispered. Zero was bleeding profusely from a gun wound on his chest. But more oddly, he was in Corenlia's arms… and weren't those BRITANNIAN SOLDIERS shooting at them?

"All units! Advance into the stadium! Protect Zero!" Kallen shouted, reactivating the _Guren_'s systems.

_But… what are the Britannians up to?_

The screaming began seconds later.

* * *

Euphemia could only watch with morbid despair at the the systematic extermination of the crowds in front of her. Bursts of orange smog were materializing all around, engulfing hundreds, thousands of people.

The Britannian knightmares had moved forward with frightening precision, launching gas grenades in a grid pattern. No corner or crevice was spared from the smog.

And all the while, their knightmares had shifted color. At the moment of movement, sheets of purple paint chipped, revealing a coat of cobalt black paint underneath whose intentions were unknown.

But... the monstrosity of it all!

She could barely feel the gushing wounds on her arms and legs, just the rising pain of the people around her.

"Why… it…it wasn't supposed to be like this!" She cried.

"EUPHEMIA!" Cornelia grabbed the paralyzed princess and propped her over her shoulder. She dashed into a forward sprint towards a beckoning C.C., wincing as two bullets tore into her left arm. Her gun clattered to the ground.

They boarded the kneeling _Gawain_ just as the OSI soldiers surrounded them and opened fire. Three enemy knightmares drew lances and prepared to engage them.

"My fault… all my fault…." Euphemia whispered, clutching her shoulders.

"Get us out of here!" Cornelia shouted. She ripped her sleeves into binds to stifle Euphemia's bleeding.

"I'm sorry. But I don't take orders from anyone." C.C. said, before bringing the _Gawain_ into the air anway.

Below the massacre was continuing to unfold. The orange mist had fallen, but the knightmares remained. Metal giants ripped through the crowds.

Cornelia averted his eyes from the gruesome scene. Such open minded bloodlust… horrible. Despite everything, she had always believed that Britannia held the brightest future for the world. But now, nothing, NOTHING, justified actions like these.

Cornelia grabbed the radio from the front console and opened a call on a unique frequency. There was a slight crackle as she punched in a number. A familiar voice responded through the speaker.

"Your Highness!" Cornelia relaxed a second at the sound of Guilford's voice. "I apologize for my absence. The Royal Council has restricted me to my room. I must ask, how has the ceremony been going? I was watching it when the program cut off midway-" Cornelia choked at the Guilford's ignorant knowledge of the day's events.

"It…I…" _What had happened today? They had been shot at by their own soldiers. Zero had taken a bullet for Euphemia. The Japanese were being massacred._

"Your Highness!"

"It's… all right Guilford. I need you to route me into all the knightmare suits assigned to the SAZ ceremony and the PA system."

"Yes your Highness." There were several clicks followed by beeps as Cornelia was patched through.

"It has been done, your Highness." Guilford paused, carefully considering his words. "I must ask… what has happenned? Please, tell me your highness, I can help!"

"Guilford," Cornelia cut in. "Thank you. For everything. I know I don't say it often, but you've done more for me than almost anyone else. I… I just needed to tell you that."

"YOUR HIGH-"

Cornelia cut off the line to Guilford and activated the transmission to the knightmares. She took a small breath and flicked the switch.

"Attention Britannian soldiers! You have turned your back on any semblance of honor and decency! It is, with true grief, that I perform the following actions."

She clicked a key on the monitor in front of her. A command prompt asked her for a password.

_W…H…O…I…S…T…H…E…D…E…V…I…L.._

"Forgive me." Cornelia clicked the button.

* * *

"Damn Britannians!" Kallen shouted, Radiant-Wave -Surger finishing off another enemy knightmare. But even she was having a difficult time comprehending it, the audacity of using lethal poison gas on civilians!

The irony of the situation was lost on her.

She turned back to focus at the task at hand. _The plans had shown that there were only 40 enemy knightmares on guard, I've seen double that!_

She had fought her way into the colossal stadium. But the sight that had confronted her…. it was no less than the stuff of nightmares. Japanese littered the ground in doves, thousands gassed to death. Britannian knightmares were killing any that had remained. This was war, in its truest form.

She desperately scanned the rolling masses for Zero. Last she saw, he had been on stage with Cornelia, Euphemia, and C.C. There was no sight of him, but neither was there of the _Gawain_.

_Good. Maybe he's managed to get out of here. _She stopped for a moment of prayer. _Zero. Please be okay._

She mashed the Gurren's hand of death into another _Sutherland_, this one equipped with a heavy duty anti-knightmare machine gun. The recent knightmares she had faced had also been equipped similarly.

These... these knightmares weren't here to kill Japanese. No, they were here for an entirely different reason.

Kallen hissed in anger. _All of the killing… to lure out the Black Knights!_

The prattle of bullets jarred her to the side of her cockpit. She regained control of the _Guren_ and turned it about.

"You want some Britannian-" She paused. Thirty _Sutherlands_ had managed to surround the Ace of the Black Knights. Each were equipped with anti-knightmare weaponary, high caliber bullets capable of ripping through steel. Most shockingly, each of _Sutherland_ had been painted a midnight black.

She activated the com system on the _Guren_. "Are you on our side?"

"Just the opposite. I'm a proud Britannian." The cockpit of a black striped _Sutherland_ opened. A single figure stepped forward. "And what do we have here? The Ace of the Black Knights? So you're the one that has caused us so much trouble." His eyes flicked down with disdain. "I can't tell why anyone would consider you a hazard, it takes half a mind to outsmart dirt like you.

Kallen clenched her teeth. "Face me one on one and I'll show you who's dirt!" But behind the façade of confidence, she was panicking. There were too many knightmares for her to think to fight, even with the _Guren_.

The man flicked back his hair and shook his head in mock disappointment. "I'm sorry, but we're really on a busy schedule." He raised a hand.

"All units! Fire!"

Kallen braced herself for the barrage, and waited some more.

But the heavy thud of bullets didn't come.

"What-" She opened her eyes to find all the enemy knightmares seemingly frozen. A voice was playing through the speakers, a voice she knew all too well.

"- Black Knights, I ask this as a favor. The system is frozen for one minute. Gather up nearby civilians and use this time to escape! Don't try to fight, reinforcements are already on there way."

_Cornelia. The Witch of Britannia. Why would she be helping US? _Kallen thought back to those fleeting images she had seen on the monitor. _Have you switched sides?_

_And more importantly, why were those knightmares painted black? _She shuddered, sensing a sinister motive behind Britannia's actions.

As she continued forward, Kallen could only think of Cornelia as the last person she'd want to be indebt to.

* * *

**Command Center of the G-2 Mobile Fortress, parked outside the SAZ:**

**10:25 AM**

Nonette Enneagram, Honorary Knight of 9, stood above the technicians and commanders seated below her. She wore monarchial purple and gold robes fitting for someone of her standing. Her hair fell in neat slopes down the back of her shoulders. A foot tap impatiently against the metal deck.

She was not happy. And the others knew it. Beneath the mask was the face of a demon that would make even Luciano cringe. She was known for having shot out the kneecaps of those that had displeased her.

"Status report!" She barked. There was a brief silence as eyes flicked from person to person, an unconscious vote to who would respond. The honor fell to one sweating black haired technician.

"U-um…Princess Euphemia and Viceroy Cornelia appear to have escaped by air in the _Gawain_." He said hesitantly.

Nonette eyes him neutrally. "Have the fighters been scrambled?"

"N-no."

"Have the drones been launched?"

"….No."

"Do we have a contingency plan for killing them?"

The technicians voice was barely a squeak. "…No…"

"THEN WHAT THE HELL ARE WE DOING!" None of the other pretended to be busy, not daring to look her in the eyes

Nonette sighed and shut her eyes. "I'm surrounded by fools." She stood up.

"I'm going to eliminate them personally."

* * *

They had been flying for a minute and were just leaving the airspace of the stadium.

Corenlia was situated in the back seat of the _Gawain_, trying her best to form a makeshift tourniquet on both her and

Euphemia's wounds. They were only flesh wounds, but both bleed savagely. Euphemia had fainted seconds ago, most likely from shock over the entire situation.

But the real danger was Zero's wounds. It was deep. It was bleeding. And there was nothing they could do about it without medical equipment. Zero was slumped in the front seat next to the woman who had introduced herself to be C.C.

A bang shook the entire compartment, jolting the _Gawain_ to the right.

C.C. scanned and found her attacker on the ground, ten thousand feet away and barely detected by her scanners. It was a unique blue and red knightmare frame. Five factpheres equipped on the arms and legs no doubt provided an advanced scanning system. Metal strips ran down the entire body, accenting the knightmare's protected joints. One Master Vibration Sword hung on the side.

But the rifle it was carrying was a fearsome weapon. It was fifteen feet long with a lethal looking barrel. A giant steel cartridge the size a microwave flung itself out of the chamber and imbedded itself in the ground, an audible click sounding as another was slotted into place.

C.C. recognized the knightmare on sight. It was the _Hermes_, the ultra-fast knightmare frame built for blink level speed.

"Damn. The Knight of 9." C.C. hissed. She flung the _Gawain_ to the left as a deadly bolt of crimson energy flew past.

"Cornelia! You have to man the weapon systems! I only have access to navigation and movement down here!" C.C. shouted. Cornelia nodded and placed her hands on the console in front of her. A screen blazed to life, showing figures for calibration and aiming of the twin halberd cannons.

"I've got the weapon systems opened, now what?"

"You've got to-" C.C.'s voice was cut as a smaller blast ripped through the front of the cockpit, blowing a hole in her chest.

"No!" Cornelia shouted. She scanned the approaching shots. _Some kind of low energy blast, likely more accurate but less powerful than the original shots. _Cornelia turned about and activated the targeting system of the _Gawain_. Twin beams of red and black energy spiraled out of two openings and buried themselves in the ground.

But _Hermes_ had already moved. It was blurring against the landscape, taking nimble shots between movements. Cornelia gasped as one of them smacked the top of her shoulder, while another disabled the flight system of the _Gawain_.

The knightmare began a slow plummet "Damn it, No!" Cornelia's eyes began to droop from the loss of blood, courtesy of her newly acquired wound. "I can still fight! I can still fight-"

* * *

Euphemia found herself situated in the second seat of the downed _Gawain_. She felt a trill of panic surge through her at the sight of her sister's body. There was blood arcing everywhere, trailing down the back part of the seat and onto the floor. Blood was slowly seeping from a head wound and two other bullet shots in her left arm..

"Sister?" Euphemia asked hesitantly. She breathed out when Cornelia gave a slight cough.

"Euphemia. Run." Cornelia slipped back into unconsciousness.

"Run.. but.. what about you! And Zero! I can't leave you!" Euphemia yelled, not knowing what to do.

There was a screech as an armored hand lifted the _Gawain_ up by the cockpit. Through the open cockpit, Euphemia turned to see a red and blue knightmare, the _Hermes_, totting a gun that had most likely brought them down. It noticed Euphemia.

Taking great care, _Hermes_ positioned the damaged _Gawain_ on the ground and took five steps backwards. In a second, Euphemia found herself staring down the front of an eight foot gun barrel.

It… it was all over. There was nothing to be done. She was the sheltered innocent girl, the figurehead. Beyond a smile, she was nothing.

A blight yellow light formed at the tip of the barrel.

And she had watched them die. She had seen hopeful subjects crumble beneath her. She had survived on the benediction, the _sacrifice_, of others. Euphemia clenched her fist and jumped forward.

"RUN! THAT'S ALL I'VE BEEN DOING!" She yelled to the air. Euphemia pushed C.C.'s body to the back of the navigation console and grabbed the control sticks. "I'M SICK AND TIRED OF RUNNING!"

The bright yellow faded to blue before a destructive pitch of red shot out of the gun.

* * *

Nonette watched with satisfaction as the smoke cleared. There was only a rather large crater where the _Gawain_ had been situated. She had been expecting more of a fight, as she'd only damaged the _Gawain_'s flight systems. But the pilots must have all died either in her scattered shots or the crash.

She shrugged and moved to return to base. _Killing Euphemia, Cornelia, and Zero in a single swoop. For this, maybe I'll be raised to knight of-_

The _Hermes_ slammed into the ground by a punch. Nonette was instantly in battle mode, using the forward momentum to twist back into standing position.

"Who dares-" She started, but stopped when she saw the frame; the _Gawain_. The knightmare had been horribly damaged. Both hadron cannons had been damaged in the crash, and the flight system was in tatters. The left arm had been completely torn off, while the other arm barely seemed to have the capacity to move.

A voice played out over the radio "I dare! Princess Euphemia of the Britannian Empire!"

A pause hung in the air. Nonette laughed brashly over the radio. "So, Princess Euphemia. Are you going to lay down and die with honor, or will you actually try to go toe to toe with a Knight of the Round."

An uppercut from the _Gawain_'s last arm stopped Nonette in her tracks. Had the _Gawain_ been any less damaged, it would have been a winning blow.

Nonette recovered with a forward flip, pissed that Eutheia had somehow managed to land a blow. The pistol clattered thirty feet to the side of a cliff. "Fine. Let's dance princess."

The _Hermes_ blurred again, appearing behind the _Gawain_. Nonette fired two of her slash harkens, obliterating the _Gawain_'s head.

"See now? You should've died with honor!" Nonette drew her Master Vibration Sword and proceeded to slice along the cockpit.

The cut never came. The _Gawain_ leaned into the swing, ducking under and letting the Master Vibration Sword graze the broken hadron cannons. Turning around, the _Gawain_ jumped and smashed the _Hermes_ back with a wicked kick to the front. It continued to push forward, kicking and punching in a coordinated attack. Five slash harkens fired from the _Gawain_'s open hand.

Growling, Nonette deflected dodged to the right and brought the sword against the _Gawain_'s last leg, sending it flying. Unable to stand any more, the knightmare tumbled backwards to the ground, utterly spent.

Nonette pointed her sword at the cockpit, almost as if knighting the humbled giant. "Euphemia Li Britannia, Die-"

A surge of red light disintegrated the top half of the _Hermes_.

* * *

Euphemia was panting heavily in the cockpit of the _Gawain_. Never before had she been forced to fight, to commit to the field of battle, not only for her sake, but for that of her brother and sister.

She pressed the switch that would retract the slash harkens from where they rested, clutching the massive pistol that had been knocked away in the first seconds of the fight.

A flickering error screen displayed an almost empty energy filler. The lights of the _Gawain_ went blank.

**A/N: Greetings one and all! Feel free to leave questions and comments! I hope to be posting a new chapter every Monday, if things go well. I try to write one chapter ahead of what I have to post, just to give myself some space.**

**I have NO IDEA what possessed me to spell "Euphemia" "Euthemia"…..**

**And speaking of which, should I give Euthemia a Geass? I'm somewhat on the borderline if I should or shouldn't.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Military Dorms**

**Friday**

**8:00 PM**

Suzaku Kururugi stared up at the ceiling tiles of his room. It was the same tile he watched when waiting for orders, just outside the _Lancelot. _The same that hovered above patients in the medical wing, the same that overlooked every performance in the gym.

The black speckled grey tile carried the entire ceiling on its grid.

He grimaced and sat up, fruitlessly clicking the switch to open his door. Of course, nothing happened. The television and compute had been switched off, his room lit to a minimum brightness.

He rested his head against the locked door, feeling the cool metal slide against his forehead. His face, cool under the abuse of his fellow Britannian soldiers, splintered.

"DAMN!" He slapped the barrier with the open side of his hand. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!"

The day of the SAZ implementation. They had approached him during the ceremony, five Britannian guards bearing the crimson seal of the Royal Council. As he was ushered away, he watched Guliford be put through a similar spectacle.

_The Royal Council. _He smacked his head against the door.

Euphemia.

_No. Not to her. Not when the new world was_

_so_

_CLOSE!_

Every though was punctuated with an identical flailing of limbs. After minutes, he took out the photo she had given him; their one day of enduring friendship, when she was simply the excitable girl who jumped out the window to explore the outer world, and he the tour guide to lead her adventure.

Their friendship. It hadn't decreased of recent, but Suzaku simply couldn't see her in the same light as before.

"Euthemia. Please be okay."

* * *

**Unknown Area**

**8:30 PM**

Cornelia awoke to a crackling fire and warm smelling meal. She sat up instantaneously, hands clenched at the sheet covering her. In her sleep, she'd been stripped to the shirt and shorts under her uniform. White moonlight poured into the cave from an opening to the left, though faint trail of red afterglow lingered over the horizon.

_Must be around 9. _She thought, absentmindedly. And then it all shot back to her.

She jerked her body perpendicular to the ground.

"Where-" Cornelia began, scanning the background. The green haired woman that had been with them yesterday sat opposite the fire, not sparing the wounded Vice-Roy a second of attention. _But… that's impossible! I saw her die from a massive chest wound!_

The woman prodded boringly at the fire with a stick, other hand wrapped around her legs "You can call me C.C."

Cornelia shook her head. She didn't usually suffer from battle hallucinations, but that was the only explanation for the sight before her. Her eyes trailed left and found the second figure laying next to the fire.

"Euphemia!" She shouted, wincing as she leaned against her left arm in her attempts to get up.

"Don't try to use that arm just yet. Thank your god that those were only flesh wounds. Any deeper and we'd have to amputate." C.C. said.

Despite the pain, Cornelia moved anxiously to Euphemia's side, shaking her awake.

"Nnnng no Cornelia, let me sleep in some more." Euphemia's left arm grabbed the pack that she'd been using as a pillow and turned away from Cornelia.

Cornelia gathered herself and took a deep breath. "EUPHEMIA LI BRITANNIA WAKE UP THIS INSTANT!"

Euphemia instantly sprang to her feet, only to fall back to the ground from the streaks of pain emanating from her left leg. She eyed Cornelia with death as she rubbed her wounded leg.

Cornelia carefully observed Euphemia's state. The wound to her arm appeared to have just been a light graze, while the other bullet had bored deep into her leg. The C.C. woman had apparently removed it and expertly bandaged the wounds.

"Cornelia, what happened to your arm?" Euphemia asked, a worried expression on her face.

"Oh its nothing, it just a scratch," Cornelia lifted her arm up for Euphemia's closer inspection. Concern flashed across the face of the princess.

"Well, it's nothing like the time we jumped off a waterfall." Cornelia forced a laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

It was years ago, and they had been young. Lelouch, Euphemia, Nunally, and Cornelia, had stolen out of the Ares Villa with a small raft. They'd spent the afternoon rowing down a nearby river, laughing lightly at the ordeal their parents were probably going through.

And then they had rowed straight off a waterfall.

All of them had escaped with light injuries, but since then, Cornelia had never been dealt a more severe punishment. Lady Marianne, though one of Cornelia's idols, was a woman to be feared.

Euphemia laughed as well, sharing the moment. Cornelia felt her spirits lift at Euphemia's smile.

_Thank god she's alive. _Cornelia thought.

"I know! The expression on Lady Mariannes face when she saw Nunally and-" Euphemia face turned quickly to alarm. She crawled forward, despite her injuries. "ZERO!"

Cornelia hissed in disdain as she remembered that this cave also housed the most wanted terrorist in Area Eleven.

_He may have saved Euphemia's life, but I've saved his twice!_ _If not for Britannia, for Clovis!_ Behind her back, Cornelia quietly gripped a rock and approached the revolutionary.

Zero appeared to be in a deathly state. His arms were limp and pale, hanging slack at his sides. His chest had been completely stripped of his Zero suit, replaced by large swathes of bandages. From Cornelia's point of view, it was evident that Zero was suffering from infection. He was lying on a makeshift stretcher of cloth and tree branches. A damp cloth covered the upper portion of Zero's face.

Euphemia was at Zero's side, staring sordidly at his placid face. She tenderly clasped Zeros left hand, holding it up to her face.

Cornelia slowly approached the two. _What is Euphemia thinking, touching Zero!_

"What… how is he doing?" Euphemia asked, looking towards C.C.

C.C. stared at the ground, a flash of anger appearing on her neutral features. "That fool told me to make sure you two were well first! I could've gotten him to a hospital easy!" She stared down at Euphemia and Cornelia. "You two had BETTER be worth it."

"Eu-Euphemia?" Zero asked. His voice was scraggy and low.

"Why Zero? How… how could you!" Euphemia asked, on the verge of tears. There was a silence before Zero's answer.

"I… I couldn't sit by…. and let someone I loved… get hurt again." Zero wheezed. It was too much on Euphemia's heart. She buried her head in her hands and cried openly.

Cornelia couldn't stand Zero's arrogance. As if he personally knew the Third Princess! Euphemia would never love a terrorist!

"I don't care who you are or what you've done, no one talks to Euphemia like that!" Cornelia rushed at Zero, whipping off the towel that covered the rest of his face.

Revealed was a regal chin and sharp nose. Silky black hair cascading across the downed terrorist. Eyes, a piercing purple, stared at the ceiling.

_A Britannian. _Was Cornelia's first thought. But then she took it all in; the face of his face, the curve of his mouth, the upwards cut of his eyebrows….

The rock fell from her hands. There was a barely perceptible stillness to the air, as if fate itself was eavesdropping on the conversation.

_No… impossible. Impossible! _Cornelia backed herself to the wall of the cave and slumped to her knees.

But in a flash she was back on her feet with a clenched fist. She brought her hand within inches of Zero's face.

"DON'T YOU DARE IMITATE THEM!" She roared with clenched teeth. Tears were streaming unbidden down her cheeks. "LELOUCH AND NUNALLY ARE DEAD! I SAW THEIR BODIES!"

Zero didn't react at the threat except to give another cough.

"Please… please forgive me….. for getting Euphie hurt, Conna." Cornelia paused in remembrance of her childhood nickname. Her eyes roamed around the cave, trying to find anything solid to grasp to. She finally dropped to her knees.

"Le-Lelouch? It is you?" She asked attentively, shifting his face into a better light. Her heart was satisfied, but her mind screamed for more proof. Euphemia nodded solemnly.

_It… it is Lelouch. Then that means, their deaths, their bodies it was all a hoax?_

Lelouch eyes closed a he shifted back to an unconscious state. Cornelia gripped Lelouch's other hand, deciding that she would not let him go a second time.

* * *

Euphemia was glad that Cornelia could finally partake in the secret she had been keeping. As much as Cornelia would never admit it, she had an unbidden quantity of love to her close friends. The news of the Nunnally and Lelouch's death had hurt her more than anyone else.

There was a scuffle in the front of the cave as the green haired woman smothered the fire. She grabbed the portable first aid kit and stuffed it into a knapsack.

"We're going." She said, simply. "Lelouch has approximately five hours left before things really start to get iffy. And personally, I'm not letting him leave until our cotract is fullfilled."

Cornelia nodded and put on her disgraced uniform. As torn and smudged as it was, her honor didn't allow her to move in her present clothes. She took her spot at the front of the stretcher, while C.C. took the back.

"Excuse me, miss, I didn't catch your name." Euphemia asked hesitantly. The woman tossed Euphemia a pack filled with food and other survival gear.

"You can call me C.C."

* * *

**The Black Knight's Submarine**

**8:40**

Kallen smashed her fist against the desk in the room. They had all been gathered, the core group of the Black Knights. Inoue, Oghi, Kallen, Yoshida, Diethard, Raskshata, Kento, Tamaki, and Yoshitaka arranged in one of the larger living quarters. Chiba and Tohdoh were also present.

And of course, they were arguing.

Oghi, Kento, Chiba, Yoshida, and Yoshitaka were ready to evacuate the area and move out of scan range.

Kallen, Diethard, Tohdoh, and Tamaki argued to wait for Zero..

Both sides were emotionally and physically spent. They had lost twenty knightmare frames in Britannia's trap, over half of the Black Knights' forces. Cornelia's intervention was the only thing that kept them alive, as ironic as it was.

And the carnage... punctured bodies and shredded skin, torn limbs and broken bones... it was a sight that marred them.

"Like hell we abandon Zero!" Kallen shouted angrily. "We owe him everything!"

"I don't like it either, but we risk the revolution by staying here in Britannian waters." Oghi's tired voice replied. "And we have no knowledge if Zero is alive at all."

"But Zero is more than just a man. He is the symbol, the epitome, for the Japan resistance. With his absence, I can predict that support for the Black Knights will crumble, and that's discounting his strategic genius." Diethard pinched the bridge of his nose. "Simply put, Zero _is _the revolution."

"But what's the point If we get killed while waiting? Is that what Zero would've wanted us to do, die senselessly?" Yoshida asked.

"Ah, you guys are full of crap! Zero's my bud, and we always stick together! I say we wait!" Tamaki said.

"Listen to yourselves. Your confusing loyalty with practicality! We stay, we die!" Chiba exclaimed.

"As much as I hate to admit it, we need a man with Zero's capabilities. The JLF has been fighting Britannia for years, and had only been able to accomplish a fraction of what Zero has done." Tohdoh quietly commented. "To have any hope of liberation, we NEED Zero."

Both sides of the room stared at each other with growing tension. All fought a strange sense of déjà vu towards an earlier predicament, exactly like this one.

The phone buzzed on the wooden table. Not moving his eyes away from Kallen, Oghi picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Put me on speakerphone." All of them perked up at the sound of C.C.'s distinct voice. "Or else."

Oghi shook his head, what Zero saw in her was a mystery. He placed the phone back on the table.

"All of you, squabbling like monkeys, no doubt." C.C. stated.

"Hey! Who are you calling a-"

"Quiet Tamaki! This is not the time!" Kallen shot. Oghi nodded appreciatively.

"Do you have info on Zero's current whereabouts?"

There was a slight blip in the conversation. "Yes. Zero has taken a rather serious gun wound." Kallen gasped, remembering the scene in the stadium. "We are taking him to be treated at a hospital. His civilian identity will allow him appropriate treatment."

Oghi kept a straight face, trying his best to sound unfazed despite the devastation of the news. The response from the rest of the Black Knights was almost identical. Though they didn't want to admit it, the Diethard had _was_ right. The Black Knighs, the resistance, the rebellion, it all rested on the shoulders of one man. "What are our orders?"

C.C. contemplated her next words. Zero had not told her explicit orders for the Order before he had lapsed. It would be most amusing to tell them that their best interests lay in commandeering all the known Pizza Huts in Japan, though she figured that Lelouch would frown upon that mode of action.

She sighed as she put the phone back to the ear.

"Move out of range of any scanners. Remain undetected. Expect a call within the week." C.C. paused, trying to think of anything else. "And Kallen…"

"Yes?"

"Go back to Ashford." There was a click as the phone line died.

* * *

They walked the 15 miles in four hours. During the time, Euphemia told Cornelia all that had happened while she was blacked out. C.C. explained how she dragged Cornelia and Euphemia from the _Gawain_'s burning cockpit, only managing to grab a survival kit before it exploded.

_Rakshata's going to kill for the number we did on the Gawain. _C.C. thought.

Their journey had mostly been without trouble. To Cornelia, it had been one of her more difficult experiences. Fifteen miles at a breakneck pace, all while shouldering the massive pains shooting up her left arm and carrying Lelouch's still body.

_Thank god he's still the frail stick of a boy that I remember._

But Euphemia very nearly had it worst. Her leg was still healing, and Cornelia could hear her panting for breath with every step. While Cornelia was a conditioned soldier, Euphemia had never been one for physical exercise.

Despite this, Euphemia had taken it upon herself to keep everyone's spirits up, Lelouch included. She prattled on about past adventures and humorous court dealings. Cornelia joined in when she talked about more of the livelier bits. C.C. was content for the occasional snarky remark, earning her darting looks from Cornelia. Euphemia specifically addressed Lelouch every now and then even though he was very likely unconscious.

Lelouch's state had degraded consistently throughout the entire trip. By the end, he was panting openly, and his fever had broken 105 degrees.

They arrived at a town exhausted from the exertion near 2 in the morning. Cornelia and Euphemia hid outside while C.C. finished the walk to the hospital. The paramedics were quick to rush Lelouch to the emergency room. C.C. had the foresight to finish stripping Lelouch of his zero suit, leaving him in just his underwear, before checking him into the hospital. She assured them that there was an alibi in place for him.

They ended up renting a dinky hotel room from a secluded building using a particular someone's credit card. Cornelia and Euphemia were smuggled in through the window while C.C returned to the hospital, content to wait for the most recent news concerning Lelouch's conditions. An hour later, she had returned. She stated that Lelouch was sighted or a complete recovery.

Her relieved tone was shared by all of them.

The hotel room was less than ideal. Two short beds pressed against the wall, surrounded by clunky pieces of furniture that only served to clutter the room. The beds had been left ratty and ignored. The television was old, screen cracked in several places. Tattered curtains hung over the windows. Cornelia stepped into the bathroom, only to be confronted by a scurrying mass of cockroaches.

She stared hard at the cramped spaces, poor quality, stains, and wished dearly that she was once again back in her familiar bedroom. _But… do I even want to return? Should I return? _She took a seat at an empty desk, facing the wall.

She stared at the tatters of her uniform hanging on a hangar. The pride of her life. Her complete and loyal servitude to her country. The uniform was stained a deep red from both her and Euphemia's blood.

And there, to the bottom of her uniform, a two way short range communicator. Now that they were close to an outpost, she could quickly reestablish contact with the Empire.

Britannia. For betraying Euphemia, for making her _bleed, _she'd get even.

She caught sight of the I.D. card C.C. had left on the table.

"Heh. Lelouch Lamperouge." Cornelia sighed as she flicked the I.D. in the air, recognizing Lady Marianne's maiden name. "Why didn't I see it sooner."

Her recently rediscovered half brother was an enigma. Whatever anger she had felt towards Zero was overturned by the immense swells of joy she felt at the sight of his face. All these years, mourning, blaming _herself_, for the loss of her dear brother and sister. And they had been alive! All this time, living among the commoners. Cornelia could only guess that they had been supported by the Ashford family.

Her face darkened. /she didn't need to ask why they hadn't returned to the folds of the Royal Family. The plotting, the contriving, the backstabbing. This same day, she had gotten within a hair to what Lelouch no doubt felt. The pain of losing everything to Imperial treachery.

But Zero had murdered Clovis. She couldn't fathom it. Her memories of Clovis weren't fond ones, but they never depicted anything more than a happy fool, content with his life of paintings and parties. She shook her head.

_No. This is something to discuss with Lelouch himself._

C.C. was laying on the bed to the right, returned from her night at the hospital. Inexorably, Cornelia couldn't help but feel like she knew C.C., on an acquaintance level. The mysterious woman that seemed full heartedly dedicated to Lelouch. But the oddest thing was her expression, never changing, never flickering. It was a mask crafted through strife, with no footholds to grasp onto.

Euphemia was sleeping in the other bed, despite Cornelia's objections to the quality of the covers. But there was nothing to it, in the end. Today she had pushed the boundaries of her physical abilities, and Cornelia couldn't help but feel pride for Euphemia's grit.

Smiling lightly, Cornelia lifted the covers to Euphemia's bed. After sinking in under the thick blankets, Cornelia felt Euphemia shift to snuggle closer to her. With the warm presence of Euphemia besides her, she could rest easy.

Moments like these, resting snapshots of peace, were what made her life worth living.

Cornelia fell asleep, content to leave her problems for the morning.

* * *

Contrary to what Cornelia thought, Euphemia was most definitely not sleeping. Her eyes were wide and staring forward. She clutched her hands together to prevent them from shaking, but to no avail. At the lapse in physical exertion and imminent danger, it was all rushing back to her, surging over her head in black waves.

After she was sure Cornelia had fallen asleep, Euphemia quietly edged to the opposite side of the bed._  
_

_There were… thousands, tens of thousands! And them, all of them, are dead!_

Euphemia dug her dirt filled nails into her shoulders, crying silently. _Each of them had a family, each of them had a life, and now…. they're dead! I killed them! I KILLED THEM!_

Euphemia's nails punctured skin and dragged forward. "Please." Euphemia choked. "I'm sorry." She could feel slick trails of blood dripping down her arms. Bolts of stagnant pain rippled up her arm with each movement.

But it wasn't enough, not even close.

Euphemia continued, not slightly paying attention to the torn skin and the pain.

_I… I only wanted to do good! I wanted to save them, why? Why did they have to die? _Her mind unconsciously barraged her with images. A hundred dead Japanese, littering the ground like dead leaves on an autumn day. A sickly mother backed into a corner by a knightmare, pushing her child behind her as the guns went wild. An elderly male, watching in shocked confusion as orange death descended.

_My fault. Every one of them. Every one of them! EVERY ONE! EVERY ONE EVERY ONE EVERY ONE-_

"Euphemia?" Cornelia's voice broke the darkness. "Are you okay?"

_She must've heard my whispers. _Euphemia thought, quickly drawing her arms back into a normal position. "I.. I'm fine sister. Just a bit tired." Euphemia put on her best fatigued voice and moved closer to her sister. She felt Cornelia's hands firmly grasp hers and draw her close.

Euphemia stopped shaking in her embrace. She forced her hands to her sides. _No, I won't hurt Cornelia anymore. Not again._

She bit her lip until it bleed before falling asleep.

* * *

**Barrington Hospital**

**Saturday**

**3:00 PM**

Lelouch awoke to the grey tiled ceiling of the hospital. For a second, he foggily analyzed the pattern, wondering why in God's name he'd installed such a dreadful design in his bedroom.

Only he wasn't in his bedroom.

Lelouch sat up abruptly as his mind woke from its slumber. He was in a hospital room. There was a window to the left, revealing a splendid view of the forest countryside and rising sun. A television stared back from the end of the room.

His hand scrambled to his chest, remembering the horrible gun shot. There was only several stiches and a scar where the bullet had impacted.

Lelouch breathed out in relief. He'd hardly had any time to run the odds a full set of odds, he was no doctor, but he'd gauged his chances at 30%.

_But…. how did I get here? _The last thing he remembered was being hoisted into the cockpit of the _Gawain_.

He reached forward and snatched the medical chart laying at the foot of his bed.

"Lelouch Lamperuge." He read before returning the chart to its previous location. He'd been admitted as an unfortunate youth, rather than the terrorist Zero.

And there's only one person who knows Zero's identity.

"You're all right!" A relieved voice carried from the doorway. Lelouch turned only slightly, not recognizing the unusually wistful tone in C.C.'s voice. His mind had become restrained by the SAZ, and the horrible events that had transpired.

"What… what happened?" Lelouch asked. "At the Special Administrative. They…they used gas, didn't they." His voice slowly rose. "The Japanese died."

C.C. closed her eyes and debated her answer. She knew very well the pain it would cause him. But it was the truth, and he, above all others, deserved to know.

"Yes." C.C. whispered, her voice low and sympathetic. There was a small pause in the conversation. Lelouch turned away from C.C., not wanting her to see the tears.

"Dammit. Dammit!" He smashed his fist against the bed frame in a sudden fit of rage. "How many. HOW MANY DIED!" He covered his face with a clawed hand. "How many innocents did Britannia MURDER, all to get to the Black Knights!"

C.C. stared at Lelouch with a sad expression. She quietly went to the bed and hugged him close, recognizing her friend's need for closeness.

"It wasn't your fault." C.C. whispered.

"Like HELL it wasn't." Lelouch replied savagely. "This was done solely to take out the Knights from the equation. Why didn't I see it sooner?" He breathed in. "I… I am willing to sacrifice myself, the Black Knights, EVERYTHING to achieve peace. Even some innocents. But this time... so many!"

"And they all died, without a purpose."

C.C. turned Lelouch's face towards at hers. She gazed at him with piercing yellow eyes. "Listen, Lelouch. You CAN'T give in now. Not when you have the Black Knights. Not after you've come this far-"

"No!" Lelouch shouted. "If I continue, this… everything! I can't do this! Not… not anymore. Let someone else play rev-"

C.C. slapped Lelouch hard on the cheek. Lines of anger were plainly drawn on her face. Lelouch looked back at his accomplice with shock. "Don't you say it. Don't you dare say it." Her tone was laced with fire. "We have a contract. And I am obligated to fulfill my end of the bargain, to help you crush Britannia! Or was it all just words, just chaff to appease your ego? Where is your drive? The Lelouch I knew would keep fighting, powering through, for the sake of the thousands that died, for the sake of peace, to build the new world for Nunnally!"

There was a couple of seconds pause as both sides looked at each other. Though he didn't show it, those words had struck that note of initiative within his black heart.

Why had he taken up arms against a third of the world?

Why had he put everything on the line, over and over again?

The dream, the goal at the end of the line. He couldn't stop now, he couldn't give in. The fire flickering out blazed anew.

_For the sake of all who died, and for the tortured who live on, I will persist to my objective._

"Shut it, witch." Lelouch said, smirking slightly. C.C. allowed herself a small smile of relief. She held him like that for a moment before bowing out of the embrace. She couldn't help but give a silent sigh of disappointment at the loss of contact.

"Wait." Lelouch said. He stopped her actions by clasping her shoulders in a grip, an action performed almost unconsciously.

C.C. froze at Lelouch's movements. He was gazing at her with kindness that she had missed in her previous years of life, hands holding her close. _No. No, don't think of it! Don't do this to yourself! _Nevertheless, she could feel her cheeks blushing slightly under his purple eyes. . C.C. couldn't help but shiver at the close warmth of the body in front of her.

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, all her walls were collapsing, shattering around this one, clever boy.

_And how did he make me feel this way? _C.C. wondered. _I've had hundreds of contractors. I've followed some throughout their entire lives. Then why, why can he make me feel this way, just in the months we've known each other?_

He took a slow breath. "C.C., I don't say it as much as I should, but thank you. Thank you." He turned to look our the window. "Everything I've done... everything I WILL do... is because of you. I...just want you to know that."

C.C. just smiled, small dabs of liquid percolating through the corners of her eye. She wiped them before Lelouch could see, hiding the action by folding his arms around his slim frame.

"Believe me, I know already." she said. She kept her arms in position this time for several minutes, not wanting to break the warm center igniting within her ashed heart.

* * *

**Ashford Academy**

**3:20 PM**

Kallen tapped her pencil against the desk. She was in the library of Ashford Academy, supposedly studying for an upcoming History test. The topic was the imperial family. Their ruling, effect on the world, and oh-so-glorious achievements.

It made her sick.

Those pompous fools. Flaunting superiority, when they were really no more than low born scum. The tapping of her pencil increased.

And Zero! C.C. had stated that he had been shot, but would make a full recovery. But they still had yet to hear back from their famed leader. And they needed him, now more than ever. The SAZ, the killing, such a horrible scene of carnage. Kallen closed her eyes and shivered at the memory.

But support for the Black Knights had risen substantially in the last hours. Even if Britannia had cut the transmission, the rumors of what happened slowly leaked to the public. Small acts of rebellion by the Japanese were becoming more frequent. Diethard was planning a press release with footage the cameras captured before the battle occurred. Unfortunately, at the start, some low power wave device disabled all the Black Knight's cameras, making them lose the worst parts of the massacre. But Diethard had a knack for spinning a tale.

And its release would stir the spirits of the Japanese to rebellion.

"Stop tapping!" a voice called from the front of the library. Kallen balled her hands into fists and stopped.

_I should be on the front lines! With Oghi and the rest of them!_ _Our rebellion kicks into full gear in a number of hours!_

As she fumed, an automated switch blinked a suspended television to life.

"ATTENTION BRITANNIANS!" A newscaster's voice blared, disturbing the quiet peace of the library. "THIS BROADCAST IS MANDATORY VIEWING, ORDERED BY PRINCE SCHNEIZEL HIMSELF!"

Kallen immediately clued in to the transmission at the mention of the Prince.

"BEFORE TODAY, YOU MAY HAVE HEARD RUMORS CONCERNING THE SPECIALY ADMINISTRATED ZONE, PRINCESS EUPHEMIA, AND VICE-ROY CORNELIA." Two images of Euphemia and Cornelia popped up on the screen, followed by the masses flocking to the SAZ.

"THE TRUTH, IS THAT THEY WERE ASSASSINATED BY THE BLACK KNIGHTS!" Kallen stood up abruptly, staring with wide eyes. The screen shifted to display soldiers, on the stage set at the SAZ, bullets ripping into Euphemia's shoulders.

_But that… those were Britannian soldiers! Not Black Knights!_

"BUT WE DON'T SIMPLY MOURN THEIR LOSS, WE MOURN THE LOSS OF MILLIONS OF ELEVENS, WHO BRAVELY STEPPED FORWARD INTO A NEW WORLD."

"Oh. Oh no." Kallen's mind flashed back to the fight that took place just yesterday. _The Britannian Knightmare frames…. painted black!_

"ONLY TO BE SAVAGELY CUT DOWN. BRITANNIA HAD GRACEFULLY LISTENED TO THE WISHES OF HER CITIZENS, CREATING THE SPECIALLY ADMINISTRATIVE ZONE TO ALLOW ELEVENS TO LIVE IN COMFORT AND PEACE. BUT THE BLACK KNIGHTS WOULDN'T HAVE IT. IN A COLD HEARTED MOVE OF PURE MALIGNANCY-"

Shock images rolled across the screen. The exploding gas grenades. The merciless gunning down of Japanese. The masses crying for help. All committed by the black knightmares, bearing the symbol of the Black Knights. She could faintly hear the stifled gasps of the people around her.

"THEY COMMITTED GENOCIDE! A SLAUGHTER OF THE WEAK, THE HELPLESS. WOMAN! CHILDREN! NO ONE WAS SPARED. AND THUS, THIS MESSAGE GOES OUT TO ZERO, AND ALL THE BLACK KNIGHTS!"

"YOU'RE CRIMES WILL NOT GO UNPUNISHED! READY YOURSELF FOR JUDGEMENT!"

Kallen was already sprinting out of the library, not caring who stopped her. She barely caught the end of the announcement.

"-and any person who has intelligence concerning the Black Knights, alert the authorities at once!"

"Dammit! Using the massacre, all those deaths, and framing the Black Knights!" She said. _I have to get back to base. With this announcement, it'll only be a matter of time before our allies turn against us!_

* * *

"-and any person who has intelligence concerning the Black Knights, alert the authorities at once!"

Lelouch and C.C. stared at the screen with pure shock. His hands shook of their own accord as he watched Britannia's monstrous actions unfold. How could they, the worst of crimes, and pinning it on somebody else! There was only one person capable of coming up with something that devious.

Schneizel.

"Lelouch…" C.C said hesitantly. He clenched his hands around the sheets of his hospital bed.

"They can't get away with this. I won't let them!" He swept his legs off the bed, wincing as he slowly eased his weight onto them.

"Lelouch, you can't-"

"Shut it. I don't care if I'm injured or not. The Black Knights need me, they'll be crushed in seconds if I don't do anything about it!"

* * *

"-and any person who has intelligence concerning the Black Knights, alert the authorities at at-" Suzaku wasn't listening at that point, senses working, but brain not comprehending the feed. His hands shook at his sides.

"What is this... WHAT IS THIS!"

His hands dragged along his matted hair, scrambling to find any semblance of sense in what he was hearing. He grabbed the black border of the television. "THIS IS CRAP!" With a heave, he shouldered the flat screen against the edge, watching it shatter into its individual components.

Suzaku's hands slumped forward and grabbed at the glass fragments, not recognizing the pain. Blood ran slick down his hands.

"Euphemia... you didn't deserve this." The hand balled into a fist, letting the shards of glass dig into his skin.

He raised his head. "ZERO, the BLACK KNIGHTS... YOU BURN!"

* * *

"-and any person who has intelligence concerning the Black Knights, alert the authorities at-"

CRASH. Cornelia withdrew her fist from the now cracked television screen.

"That devious BASTARDS!" She roared, punctuating her point by repeatedly shoving her only good fist into the screen. "THAT NEVER HAPPENED!"

While Cornelia released her anger on the television screen, Euphemia sat back, hands holding her knees. She rocked back and fourth. _They… they used their deaths and pinned it on the ones that acted in justice…. THE BLACK KNIGHTS!_

Her features hardened as anger coursed through her. Her hands were white from the pressure she put on them. _They won't do it. Not while I have anything to say about it._

Cornelia turned back to Euphemia, eyes widening slightly at the expression dark on her face.

In a move, almost identical to Lelouch's years ago, Euphemia turned to face the open window.

"I swear, I'll crush Britannia!"

**A/N: A chapter a bit shorter than the first one. For those of you wondering about Lelouch wild reaction to the SAZ massacre, I have several reasons behind it:**

**1.) In the anime, the massacre was solely his fault. As a result, he couldn't let himself think back at it, for the sake of constant guilt. Here, Lelouch finds himself a side cause of the massacre, as Britannia is the main perpetrator. This allows him to fully scrutinize what happened, the death and the pain that occurred at the incident.**

**2.) Well, more stuff has happened to him at this point. He was shot near the heart, he watched Britannians try to kill Euphemia, and he was forced to reveal his identity to Cornelia. These things would add in to his addled frame of mind.**

**3.) The brutality of the massacre. The massacre in the anime was not planned, rather, it was an on the spot reaction to Euphemia's orders. Here, Britannia has deliberately planned for the slaughter and been outfitted accordingly. Though the Black Knights saved some people, a larger percentage of the people died.**

**In a review, Trife has said that Kallen would be able to easily handle the thirty sutherlands around her. I'll change the numbers if more people agree, but I think that it's reasonable the way it is. First, the deck is heavily stacked against the Black Knights. By the large numbers of enemy sutherlands present, she gathers that it is a trap to lure out the Black Knights. With that, she can logically conclude that ALL the pilots surrounding her are elite and ALL have weapons specifically set for anti-knightmare. Second, she is in an open area, surrounded by knightmares. At Narita, she could easily weave in and out of trees to close in on her enemies. Third, the Radiant-Wave-Surger itself. At this point in canon, she does not have access to the Radiant-Wave-Shielding that is popular in the second season. Sure, she might be able to take down one or two, but with that much constant fire, I don't think she'd be able to last long.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay, I rather dislike but notes at the start of a chapter, but I just have to say that I finally did some revisions on Chapters 1 and 2. The big things I added are scenes with Suzaku (long overdue), a more gradual introduction into C.C. and Lelouch's relationship, adding a locations/time tag at the introduction of new scenes, and italicizing knightmare names. **

* * *

**Taxi**

**Saturday**

**5:00 PM**

Cornelia sat cross legged in the taxi, eyes glued to window of the taxi. Euphemia was next to her, similarly staring out the window. Lelouch and C.C. were opposite of them.

When Lelouch had returned returned from the hospital, Cornelia's initial reaction was for him to rush back. But she had seen that look in his eye before, the look of determination that had manifested right before he had confronted the Emperor, and so she had complied with his wishes. He'd called for a taxi, and then changed into his Zero outfit.

She looked at Lelouch and C.C. every now and then during the ride. It was obvious that the dynamic between them had changed within the last 24 hours, whether Lelouch noticed it or not. C.C. occasionally rambled and stuttering under his gaze. For the most part, the boy seemed not to notice, simply nodding at her tone and beckoning for her to continue.

For the revolutionary leader of the Black Knights, he could get a clue.

But frankly, Cornelia was too involved in getting used to the fact that her siblings were alive to inquire about Lelouch's love life.

So she went back to scanning the outside world, cycling through possible threats and generating countermeasures accordingly. Is was a good strategy, better safe than sorry, but Cornelia was performing this exercise for an entirely different reason.

She didn't want to think of yesterday.

The betrayal by Britannia and slaughter of the Elevens, no, Japanese, and wounded in battle, yes. But these were not new ideas.

Above everything else, how Euphemia had changed.

The excitable, innocent girl that Cornelia loved had been completely absolved in the wake of the SAZ disaster.

Before the SAZ, she'd never felt complete and total betrayal. She'd never felt abandonment. She'd never endured pain. Except for the news of Lelouch and Nunally's demise, she had never been touched by death.

And all of this had changed in a day.

Euphemia had known the word wasn't a gentle, kind place. But it was knowledge gained from word of mouth, rather than experience.

But more than that, the SAZ massacre. The death of countless Japanese. Knowing Euphemia, she blamed herself for what transpired that day. She took herself as a fool for trying to set up the SAZ, for underestimating the extent of Britannia's treachery. And for that she was hurting. Cornelia had asked her about it, tentatively, but Euphemia had dismissed her words with a blank look and wave of her hand.

Cornelia shook her head as she glanced at Euphemia's features, cold and disjointed from reality.

She couldn't help but wonder if she would ever smile again.

* * *

**Military Dorm**

**Sunday**

**3:00 AM**

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M RESTRICTED!" Suzaku bellowed. His hands were clenched and pale. Blood thundered to his head. "I WAS EUPHEMIA'S KNIGHT! LIKE HELL I'M NOT GOING TO FIGHT THE BLACK KNIGHTS!"

The two commanding officers stared him down with narrowed eyes. Inside, he filled with explosive anger. Any other day he would've bottled it up and smiled under the opera mask.

But not today.

"I HAVE MY DUTY TO PRINCESS EUPHEMIA! YOU LET ME GO OR-"

"Or what, Suzaku Kururugi. Or WHAT?" The first asked in a steely voice. He shoved Suzaku back into the confines of his room. "Go ahead. Hit me, retaliate. Give me the excuse to take out the trash."

Suzaku raised his fist for combat, very nearly past the line of sense. At the last moment, he dropped his composure, slumping back and suppressing his anger.

The guard smirked. "That's right. Bow your head to your masters, Warrant Officer Kururugi." He kicked Suzaku heavily in the stomach. "Your precious princess isn't here any more to protect you. And don't you forget it."

With a final blow, the pair exited the room, chuckling darkly.

Suzaku's nails clawed at the bed sheet, one name echoing through his head.

_Zero._

* * *

**Taxi**

**5:30 AM**

It was almost morning. Besides stopping momentarily to pick up food, pizza, weirdly enough, they had driven all through the day. Euphemia and C.C. had long since surrendered themselves to sleep, while Cornelia was doing her best to fake it. Lelouch seemed to content to peer at the blurred world.

He cursed as he picked up a phone from the folds of a pocket. It was still turned deactivated from when he had turned it off before the SAZ.

_I hope no one has needed me in the past few hours._

The glowing screen flicked on; 38 missed calls. He blinked at the readout, a dark sense of foreboding suddenly gripping him.

_What the hell…_

The ringtone of a phone shook the sleepy atmosphere that had developed within the car. Lelouch hesitatingly held it to his ear.

"It's me." He said.

"Zero! Thank god I reached you!" Kallen's voice emerged from the phone. But it was different; unconfident, shaken.

Pleading.

Lelouch instantly perked up at the sound of gunfire in the background. The entire occupants of the car stared at the phone with apprehension.

"The… the harbor that we were hiding in….the Japanese owners sold us out!" The sounds of multiple explosions rippled through the taxi.

"Kallen!" Lelouch shouted. Momenta later, Kallen's voice continued to filter through the speakers.

"I… I'm fine. But we can't escape. The Britanians have attack subs waiting just outside the doc. W-we got all our knightmares out but, it's a losing battle. Britannian reinforcements are due to arrive in minutes." Lelouch breathed out, finally recognized the tone that his ace was using; absolute defeat.

"Kallen. Launch the Sakuradite Crawlers." Kallen gasped slightly.

"B- but Rakshata designed those for long range bombardment! We can't be sure-"

"Do it!" Lelouch shouted. "It will buy us enough time to me to arrive." He turned his gaze to look cautiously at Cornelia and Euphemia. "I'm bringing a secret weapon with me. Kallen. You are the Ace pilot of the Black Knights. You have kept pace with the most advance of Britannian technology. You went toe to toe with Cornelia's elite knights and returned triumphant. FIGHT FOR HOPE. HOLD OUT UNTIL WE ARRIVE!"

"Y-yes sir!" Kallen stated, only slightly more resolutely then before. _They must be in worse shape than I had originally thought. The way she's acting…._

There was a click as the call was disengaged.

He then turned to the princess and vice-roy sitting in front of him. "Can I count on you to fight?"

Cornelia and Euphemia nodded forcefully. He tossed the cell to Cornelia.

"I need you to make a call for me..."

* * *

**Yamato Docks**

**5:45 AM**

They were outnumbered twenty to one. Outgunned, outmaneuvered; outplayed. But not outmatched.

And that was the cause behind Kallen's despair.

Every pilot that Britannia put forth was average at best. No lightning reflexes, no valuable combat experience, only able to perform the bare minimal with a standard issue gun. The battle had neared its twenty minute mark with no sudden breakout of skilled knightmare pilots, to long for it to be anything but deliberate.

Britannia was sending a message.

Saying that with everything they had done, every gained advantage, each new recruit, all Britannia had to do was pivot once and crush the Black Knights with her heel. Like a bug.

Of course it had made her angry. Not just the fact that they would fight the Black Knights like this, but Britannia's blatant wast of human lives. Her blood boiled as she commanded the _Guren_ with a ferocity never seen before among the Black Knights.

That anger carried her through her first fifty _Sutherlands_.

But they kept coming! It was an exaggeration to call any dozen of enemies destroyed a significant drop in forces. One fell, and another stepped forward to take its place.

Zero's call had granted her courage, but only a small margin. Slowly, they were being pushed back. Kallen opened a com to the Black Knight's submarine, laying just underneath the waters.

Rakshata's face appeared stared at Kallen with venom. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY BABY!" She screeched.

Kallen shuddered at how the _Guren_ must look on the outside. All systems were still functional, but it had definitely taken a beating.

"Rakshata. Deploy long range Sakuradite Crawlers. Aim for large clumps of enemy forces. Zero's orders. Alert the other Black Knights of their firing." Kallen said in a quiet tone as she sliced through another knightmare.

Rakshata stopped her rant to eye Kallen curiously. "The Sakuradite missiles are calibrated or sort range firing. We could very well end up hitting our-"

"SHOVE IT!" Kallen snapped. "LAUNCH THE DAMN MISSILES! ZERO'S ORDERS!"

Rakshata narrowed her eyes. "Fine. I'll launch the missiles. Don't expect any more favors from me." With a click, she signed off.

Kallen stared at the black of the screen. _What… what am I doing? Why am I snapping at my own soldiers! Rakshata, everyone, we're all in the same boat._

She shoved her hands against the desktop of the _Guren_. "So get a hold of yourself Kallen!"

The rattle of bullets against steel jostled her back into action. She swung around to stare at the squad of four _S__utherlands_.

"Just hold out a little bit more." She whispered. "Believe in Zero."

* * *

Lelouch watched the plumes of black smoke drifting over the rooftops, no doubt the work of the Crawlers.

"That should hold them off for a bit." He murmured as he lodged his Zero mask into place. He had only a marginal idea of the events that were taking place down at the harbor, and could only hope that the Sakuradite missiles hadn't eliminated too many of his men.

_I need ten minutes….._

Cornelia had taken control of the taxi. They were darting through the number of storage units, edging towards the conflict. C.C. and Euphemia were sitting complacently in the back.

"Lelouch…." Cornelia started, voicing everyone's thoughts. Her eyes didn't flick from the front of the row. It didn't take a tactical prodigy to see they were afraid, or in C.C.'s case, simply at unease.

He nodded back.

"We will be commandeering the G-1 Mobile Fotress positioned at the rear of the attack." He paused as he let the declaration sink in. Only Euphemia acted startled, gasping slighty. Cornelia narrowed her eyes and glanced at him momentarily.

The car screeched to a halt as Cornelia slammed on the breaks. She reached back and flipped open the back door, jerking her thumb in the direction of the exit.

"Euphemia. Out. Now." Her voice was cold and uncompromising. Lelouch sat back, momentarily startled. He was glad his distress was hidden by his mask, as Euphemia was a crucial element to his plan.

_But….. I wouldn't even fathom the thought of sending Nunnally to the front lines. This has to be resolved, by __**them.**_

Euphemia's eyes flicked from the open door back to Cornelia's face. She felt her heart speed and fingers clam at the implications of her decision. Maybe, maybe two days ago, she would've run. Would've followed Cornelia's orders and exited the field of battle. But that was yesterday, today she was a fighter.

"No." Euphemia said sternly. She gripped the seat of the car and looked Cornelia in the eye. Daring her to say different. "This is my fight as well as yours. I won't run away."

Both siblings stared at each other, filling the empty space between them with a fierce battle of steward wills. Cornelia scanned Euphemia's face, not knowing whether to be proud or saddened at the stance of determination. She could just as well force her out of the car, but Euphemia's resolve suggested that the girl would get herself into some other trouble.

She shut her eyes and brought the car back into a slow acceleration in the direction of the Mobile Command Center. _I'm going to regret this…._

"Fine. Stay. But we're walking into gunfire and dirt low odds. Death and a possible suicide mission." Cornelia's voice had a slight tremor. "I… I can't guarantee your safety."

Euphemia took it all in stride. "I understand. I'll put my life on the line, for the sake those that died."

Lelouch shut his eyes and breathed out a guilty sigh of relief. _Am I wrong to feel like this? For feeling relieved that one of my oldest friends is walking the bladed path?_

Cornelia stopped the car for the second time. A garrison of soldiers were approaching the beat taxi, yelling and beckoning wildly.

"Perfect." Lelouch said.

* * *

Euphemia marched a few feet behind C.C. Using the combined shock of Zero's presence and the supposedly dead princess, they overwhelmed the stationed guards with ease. After commandeering standard issue uniforms, the group now moved rapidly towards the Mobile Command Center. Euthemia and Cornelia had their visors drawn tight over their eyes, body's completely shielded from the front by C.C. and Lelouch. The last thing they needed was to be recognized.

Euphemia would be lying if she said she wasn't afraid. She was trembling under the pressure of what would happen within the next hour. Her breath came quick and fast, even while walking.

Because, in a moment, they would join the battlefield. Any one of them could die in a blink, gone forever through a hail of gunfire. She had fought when cornered with no other option, but walking languidly into the blitzing crossfire, it was an entirely new experience of fear.

But most of all, she was afraid she'd be a burden. The entire reason she _had _come was to make a difference. To matter more than the idol puppet many of the court saw her as-

-Or to die trying.

The purple Mobile Fortress loomed before them. Giant steel plates were packed tight against the sides. Two mounted knightmare launchers protruded from the main stalk, parallel to the ground. Across the body was a dense array of machine gun turrets, no doubt loaded with every possible ammunition. The Britannian emblem was situated proudly atop the command deck.

Two Britannian soldiers approached. "Halt! State your unit!"

Euphemia seized up at the conflict. Lelouch slowly brought his eyes level with soldiers, voice thick with authority.

He'd partially explained his ability on the walk. The power, Geass, of Absolute Obedience. He quickly went through some of its limitations, including the need for eye contact and the "one time use" restriction. Cornelia had snorted loudly at the statement, proclaiming that such a thing couldn't exist. But Euphemia shuddered at his words, recalling their conversation at the SAZ.

_That's how he would've made me shoot him. But that's a horrible thing, stripping a person of their control and imposing your own will._

"**I order you to let us pass.**" Lelouch said. A red ring of light materialized on their eyes, the only mark left by his power.

Cornelia reeled slightly at their reaction. The sluggish nods the guards gave as they completely complied with Lelouch's wishes, their dazed looks, as if walking through a dream.

"Maybe there's some truth to this 'Geass' after all." She muttered.

They entered the Mobile Command Fortress after Geassing three separate sets of guards. Cornelia relaxed slightly as the glossy silver walls surrounded them. She had spent the majority of her time within Mobile Command Fortresses, almost equal to her time in a knightmare frame. Within these walls, she was in her element, commanding the full glory of the battlefield, only required to demolish her enemies and achieve the objective.

Here, things were simple.

"HEY YOU PUNKS! STATE YOUR BUSINESS!" The company of four quickly cycled around to face the man.

The soldier was a giant compared to other soldiers. His head very nearly touched the ceiling of the 8 foot doorway, not a small feat in the slightest. At his sides he hoisted twin machine guns, giant straps of ammunition running across his chest. Clipped to his belt were multitudes of grenades. Other devices were spread sporadically at every possible interval around his person.

And the man wore a pair of tinted goggles. Either a deliberate precaution against his Geass, or a cautious maneuver to avoid flash bombs, there was no way Lelouch could get into the mind of the soldier.

_Hell, not a soldier, this man is a walking armory!_ Cornelia shifted ever so slightly into a better defensive stance, a move that Lelouch hoped was lost on the guard. He felt Euthemia shake at the interaction. His hand, hidden by his form, grabbed her arm, letter her calm down for a second before releasing it.

_Have courage, Euphemia._

Lelouch stepped forward. "Sir! We have been ordered by Prince Schneizel to personally deliver data to the Generals!" He held up a small thumb drive that had been stored within his phone.

The soldier snatched the drive from Lelouch's outstretched hands. Not taking his eyes off the group, he ran his fingers over the edges.

"Sorry. Orders from the Royal Council. Only a specific set of guards are to have interaction with the Generals. I'll give it them myself." The soldier leveled at them, gauging their reactions.

Lelouch cursed inwardly at the extensive precautions that had been implemented. Nothing was given to chance. His left hand, still hidden, displayed the number five for the others to see.

_Prepare to fight._

He brought back his thumb, leaving four fingers left. "With all due respect sir, this is a direct order from Prince Schenizel himself." He drew his pinky finger into the fist, three left. "He specifically told _us _to deliver this data. We have other information that may prove useful." Two. "If we go back like this, we'll-" Lelouch was about to go on when he was abruptly interrupted by the guard.

"Oh, silly me. I didn't know you were acting under Schneizel's _direct _orders. Here, the center is up the stairs and to the right." The soldier said with an unnatural tone change. He tossed the drive in a wide arc back towards Lelouch, who released an unbidden sigh at the guard's statement.

_Well, that was easier than-_

WHAM! A roundhouse kick caught Lelouch in the side, smashing him against the steel walls. The guard had closed the distance between them with record speed.

"What-" Lelouch stuttered.

Lelouch's addled mind barely grasped the situation when the guard grabbed his collar, pinning him midair.

"Lelouch!" Cornelia called. Lelouch only heard a short rusle of fabric as Cornelia whipped out her gun, followed quickly by C.C.'s.

But the guard was faster. Two shots cracked through the empty hallway, disarming the pair. The guard chuckled as he flipped another gun into his empty hand, putting Lelouch into a headlock while taking careful aim at the trio.

Grabbing the two by the collar, Cornelia hurtled Euphemia and C.C. into the adjacent doorframe as shots sheared past them. She leaned backwards against the wall, cocking her second handgun.

"Did you REALLY think you'd fool anyone with that act?" The guard guffawed. "Pathetic. I don't know how you managed to get this far, but I can guarantee that-

_Damn. I should've seen it. Oldest trick in the book. _Cornelia thought, ignoring the guard's bragging. She counted down in her mind.

_5….4…..3….._

"You have five seconds to get out here before your friend gets it!" The guard bellowed.

"Shit," Cornelia swore, risking a peek around the corner. The guard had the underside of his gun jammed against Lelouch's bleeding chin.

"Don't… don't do it." Lelouch whispered through a black eye and split lip.

_Like hell. I'M NOT LETTING YOU DIE AGAIN!_

"SHUT IT!" The guard nailed Lelouch with punch to the stomach. Cornelia furiously clenched her weapon. _What could she do!?_

C.C. sighed melodramatically from behind her, voice emotionless still. "Oh Lelouch. Always getting yourself in trouble. Must I always bail you out?" Cornelia stood back, dumbstruck by her reaction.

C.C. took off her helmet and stepped into the hallway. The guard smiled leerily at her flowing green hair. "Why, you're quite the dame! I might be inclined to spare your life if you-" C.C. twisted in a fluid motion, bringing her pistol to bare and taking aim at the guard.

A bullet snapped forward, imbedding itself in C.C.'s forehead. Euphemia and Cornelia could only stare in shock as C.C. collapsed on the floor.

The guard tutted with annoyance. "Too bad for her. Such a looker too. I sincerely hope that you don't have the same inclinations as Miss-blond-hair-dyed-green."

"Damn you!" Cornelia sprang from her spot and rolled forward, firing a full spread with the pistol. The guard ducked under the shots and leaped forward, delivering a vicious cut to Cornelia's leg.

"I do regret having killed your friend so swiftly." Cornelia held back a scream as the guard nailed her wounded arm with a punch. "I like to see my victims _squirm _for their life."

"I'll say this once. My hair is _naturally _green." A shot slammed into the guard's neck, entering and exiting with gory punctuality. A spurt of red mist spilled into the air as the guard collapsed.

C.C. replaced the spent gun rounds with a new cartridge. "Some men just don't have any manners."

Euphemia sprang out of the doorframe. "B-but, we saw you DIE." She eyed the drying blood on the witch's forehead. "How are you still alive!?"

"Oh please, I've taken much worse in my lifetime. Let's take care of our errant prince, shall we?" C.C. shouldered a groaning Lelouch back to his feet.

"Wimp. Even as a toddler, I had twice your threshold for pain-" C.C. started, letting Lelouch gain his bearings.

Cornelia just stared with open shock. _A mortal wound… and she survived it! Just like before!_

_Could she be….invincible? Immortal?_

"Damn. I should really work out more." Lelouch muttered. He grimaced and stood straight. _Have to stay strong…..Zero can't show weakness!_

"Let's go. Leave the body. Our mission will be completed by time they discover it." Lelouch effortlessly slid back into the mask of the invincible revolutionary. He beckoned for them to continue, then stopped.

"Euphemia?" He asked, quizzically. "Are you okay?" The princess was panting heavily, staring at her clenched fist. Her body was leaned against the walls for support. Cornelia Lelouch watched her movements with growing concern.

Euphemia had learned to hate those looks. The looks of loving responsibility towards the third princess. That she was someone to be doted upon, someone to be taken care of, nurtured, kept back from any semblance of the real world, out of place. A hapless fool.

Nothing but a burden.

_DAMMIT EUPHEMIA! YOU PROMISED THAT YOU WOULDN'T BE HELPLESS AGAIN. _A scathing voice within Euphemia shouted.

_YOU SWORE THAT YOU'D FIGHT FOR FAMILY! And what did you do?_ _You watched in cold shock Your BROTHER was very nearly killed, and all you did was watch. See that? Right behind you? That's called a GUN, it's a WEAPON. Never once did think of using it. FIND THE GUTS!_

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? Come on, we have a mission to complete." Euphemia brushed off the hand that Cornelia had placed on her shoulder. She ran forward to lead at point, gun in hand.

_Never again._

* * *

**The Command Deck of the G-1 Mobile Fortress**

**5:50 PM**

General Philips stared at the battlefield lines with growing satisfaction. The purple map displayed all troop movements, the terrain, and scanned enemy movements. And of everything presented, one truth was certain in his mind.

The Black Knights would fall today.

As their numbers dwindled, it was only a matter of time before they broke. And when they broke, they would shatter; shredded power forward to abyss.

The Royal Council had layered them with two objectives; the complete annihilation of the Black Knights, and the destruction of the Japanese fighting spirit. They had come up with two different plans that could be implemented.

The first was a strategic wipeout. A precise attack backed by insurmountable soldiers and the greatest military minds. It could be compared similarly to the knife wielding ninja of old, a decisive victory with no alliteration to flair or show, combat at its finest. Yet this method had its shortfalls. The Black Knights may very well fall, but the spirit, the _drive _for revolution would continue to persist. So from there, the second option was selected.

A surge of overwhelming force. No strategy, no good soldiers, just massive resources allotted against a small, but elite class of enemy. Backed into a corner, Britannia would beat the Black Knights to death with a baseball bat.

The strategy was too messy for Philips. Too wasteful in its consumption of resources and manpower. But, he had to respect Schneizel's ingenuity. It would be a slow death of the revolution. Sure, some would very well speak of the multitudes of Britannian forces the Black Knights had managed to defeat before facing death, but most would be drawn to the Red Demon, ace of the Black Knights, defeated by nothing more than a rank amateur. Zero, supreme commander, shot by a common soldier.

That Britannia had defeated the Black Knights, without even trying.

Genera Philips sighed in exasperation. This method was dishonorable to a fault. The Black Knights deserved nothing but respect for their accomplishments; that at least he could acknowledge. But honor was not the objective, so he put aside personal feelings aside for the sake of duty.

BANG! The general closest to Philips collapsed backwards, a bloody stain appearing on his leg. From his vantage point, he had no vision of the shooter

"What-" The soldiers were the first to react. They scrambled forward from the dark recesses of waiting, firing short torrents of bullets towards the front.

Before Philips could make the first of moves towards his gun, a voice of black thunder rippled through the folds of space.

"**All of you… DIE!" **The voice bellowed.

Like the exchange of puppet strings, Philips watched as the soldiers mechanically twisted about their own gun. There was a simultaneous firing followed by the hollow thump of collapsing bodies.

He turned slowly, making no sudden movements, and blanched at what he say.

Four figures were crowding the entrance to the command deck, slinging multiple guns in the direction of the generals. A resolute figure stood forward. _Impossible. How did they slip past the guards!_

"W-who are you?" He whimpered, other hand reaching for his gun. The front figure turned indigo eyes onto Philip's form.

He felt a chill like no other shoot down his spine. Philips had made his name on the plains of Europe. An aloof soldier who had the knack for tactical challenges. By the time he was shipped back, he had distinguished himself innumerably on the field of combat and as a master strategist.

In his time, he had known pain. He knew the sorrow of watching comrades fall.

And he thought he had known fear.

But this… it went beyond fear. It awakened primordial abhorrence, ancient stirrings of guttural terror that transcended the depths of his being.

"Well, Lelouch? Do we need them?" A female voice inquired from behind a black-visored helmet. The front figure completely cycled back his helmet, revealing thick strands of black hair. His face reflected systematic disdain for the world around him. He scowled at the remaining generals.

"No. We don't." An arm beckoned to his three other comrades.

Philips lurched forward. "No… wait! I can still-" another barrage of bullets slashed through the empty air.

* * *

C.C. eyed Lelouch with cat like curiosity.

"Was that really necessary? I mean, those soldiers could have been your slaves." She commented absently

Lelouch didn't bother to look up from the monitor. "Contrary to popular belief, I do have a heart of sorts. Mindless slaves are rather not my morning tea. And I'd prefer to not tip off my power, so early in the game." He continued his furious tapping. "I'm activating the internal security systems. We're the only ones left."

Cornelia was eyeing the battlefield map, while Euphemia kept watch near the entrance. Britannian forces were highlighted in blue, with the Black Knights in Red. _Madness. _She thought, levelly shaking her head at the strategy applied to destroy the Black Knights. _Lives wasted fruitlessly. _

A blink of light caught her attention. It was quickly followed by another wink, and another.

One by one, the red icons of the Black Knights were dying. Collapsing like a domino chain.

"Lelouch…" Cornelia said. Over a third of the Black Knights's forces had perished in the last thirty seconds.

"Got it." The screen flashed once with a green hue. "The Mobile Fortress is ours now." There was a hollow thump as sheets of iron descended across the doorway, sealing them off. "Cornelia, take navigation. Euphemia, C.C., weapons. "

Euphemia nodded and walked over to the monitor indicated. A touch revealed an advanced targeting grids that linked all the right turrets to a single system. The joysticks functioned as reference points to cue up specific targets and independently directed all artillery fire.

The hesitance in her mind was overridden in a cloud of forward purpose. "Fight. Let me fight!"

Cornelia took the command post near the front. Levers and joysticks protruded from the front monitor and the surrounding control frame. Rows of buttons lined the front face.

_Why….. have I never learned to drive one of these._

Hesitantly, she pressed the green key. Her movement was rewarded by the faint gutter of the engine as the entire fortress shook with anticipation.

A voice crackled through the speaker. "G-1! What are you doing! Our orders are to stay out of the front lines! They'll have our-" Cornelia shot the speaker.

Lelouch calmly stretched backwards, moving out of sight behind the command post.

"Lelouch, what are you doing?" Euthemia asked. He responded with a cheeky grin.

"I'm changing back into my Zero suit." He said. "After all, the curtain has been raised, the actors set, its SHOWTIME."

* * *

Kallen was surrounded on all sides. 5 _Sutherlands_ had circled about her and were shooting wildly and pinning her to the back of an abandoned warehouse. They ceased fire as they completed the encirclement.

_Damn. You got careless. _She tried to muster a flame, a single bolt of defiance to the might of Britannia. But she was tired. Spent and discouraged, beaten and beaten again.

Continuous damage had slashed her mobility to less than half. The Radiant-Wave-Surger was operating on 10% effectiveness, and her energy filler was at 8% battery. The right landspinner had been destroyed. Her left arm had been cleaved straight off sometime around her eightieth victim.

Eightieth victim.

She had lost count from there. Every new aggressor simply another blur of purple streaked armor.

The 4 _Sutherlands_ opened fire in a synchronized assault. The _Guren_ leaped forward and swiveled to the left, protecting its one good arm. Kallen cried out, in almost physical agony, as bullets mashed into the already damaged armor plating and burrowed deep in the circuitry.

She was quick to approach the surrounding Knightmares, smashing the first _Sutherland_ with a roundhouse kick to the chest.

The others scattered in a flurry, stilling unleashing a constant stream of bullets. Kallen tailed a second _Sutherland_ and grabbed its cockpit block with her lethal right hand. She depressed the button and released a second's worth of radioactive energy.

It was not enough to disable a knightmare frame, but it was more than sufficient for killing the pilot.

It was a dishonorable way of fighting, and Kallen took no pleasure in it. To her, battle was a level ground of decisive action and skilled accordance. Death was not a goal, simply an end.

These soldiers wielded only the strength of undying loyalty to their country. They may serve the devil, but she could understand the nationalistic motivation, if not the moral one. For being asked to die, needlessly, by the country they had sworn their existence to, the least she could do was best them in a clean battle.

But she couldn't hide beyond mercy, not now.

Everything was riding on this, the ghosts, the future phantasms, the living, if ANYTHING of it all was to matter, to have been worth it, the Black Knights would have to WIN.

Her clawed hand disposed of a third S_utherland_. The last two ran divergence, land spinners churning as they spun large circles around the _Guren_, still shooting. With a lurch, the servos in the _Guren_'s gave out. Kallen dropped to one knee.

"Damn." Immobilized completely, she could only watch as she was gutted. Bullets pierced the upper side of the cockpit block and struck her as the _Sutherlands_ moved in, sensing her vulnerable state.

She clutched at her wounded side and coughed up blood. She looked up at top of the cockpit, imagining the faces of all the Black Knights, the truest family she had ever had. Oghi. Yoshida. Tamaki. Kento. Yoshitaka. All faces that she had known better than any other.

And Zero. The valiant crusader, risking himself and his ideals for the sake of justice. From his actions, she thought she understood him, to a degree. The mask he wore... only his truest face. She imagined Zero stuffing a plastic face disguise over his Zero mask and laughed.

"Sorry, Zero, and all the rest of you. I let you down." The _Sutherlands_ took carefully aim at the cockpit block and unleashed a stream of bullets.

Before the bullets could plunge past the steel surrounding the cockpit block, a symphony of gunshots echoed across the battlefield. The cockpits of the S_utherlands_ were sheared off by a flood of bullets from the right front.

Unveiling in front of her eyes through the smoke of crushed battlements was a Mobile Fortress bearing the Britannian emblem. The gun turrets on its surface were blazing with battle fervor while ground to ground missiles were bearing down on Britannian knightmares.

"ATTENTION ALL BLACK KNIGHTS!" Kallen's voice caught in her throat at the voice. "I HAVE COMMANDEERED THE MOBILE FORTRESS. ALL UNITS RETREAT TO THE BLACK SUBMARINE AND PREP FOR DEPARTURE. KALLEN, TOHDOH, AND THE FOUR HOLY SWORDS, MEET ME AT THE FOLLOWING COORDINATES!"

She felt her will mount at the unshakable confidence layered in Zero's voice. A black set of coordinates flashed across her screen.

_But… the Guren is a complete wreck! Utterly destroyed! _She tuned her modulator in to Zero's chat channel.

"Zero, the Guren has been completely demolished in the fight. Do you still want me to make the rendezvous?"

"Yes, Kallen. Eject and walk if you have to. I am sorry, but you'll be piloting a S_utherland_ for the second half of this battle." There was a brief cackle of radio chaff between words. "Q-1, you are the most valuable member of the Black Knights. You won't let me down." Zero's voice cut off from the speaker.

There was a silent pause in the _Guren_, the first moment of peace since the battle had begun. Kallen brought her hand to her chest in a mock solute, despite the fact that no one could see, or hear her.

"YES SIR!"

* * *

Euthemia watched Lelouch's, or rather, ZERO'S movements from the corner of her eye. He had contacted the pilot of that red knightmare and was now conversing with an Indian scientist on the overhead screen.

"-believe me, they'll withstand that amount of pressure. But I can't guarantee they'll last for long. The only aspect you have working for you is the natural buoyancy of the cockpit block."

Zero nodded. "Understood. Thank you." The screen flicked back to darkness. Zero stood in the darkening atmosphere.

"Cornelia, has the Mobile Fortress been preset to my control?" He asked.

"Yes, Zero."

"Right then. Set the weapons to automatic and accompany me. We'll be joining the battlefield in knightmares." Euthemia stared at Zero with an open mouth. She could see her sister repeating an identical action. C.C. simply stared with mild interest.

"Zero! I can't pilot a knightmare frame-" Euphemia started, at the same time as Cornelia.

"Lelouch, if you think for a SECOND I'm going to let you put Euphemia into one of these-"

"STOP!" Zero shouted. His voice carried a command that instantly penetrated the garble. "Do you think I like the idea of putting Euphemia, and YOU, on the front lines? You two, the only family that I have always loved. Euphemia, Cornelia, the brother in me detests me for this, but the only way to win, is to take to the battlefield."

He turned towards Euphemia. "Besides, I understand you're more than capable. You managed to defeat a Knight of the Round, wounded, and in a crippled knightmare frame." Euphemia blushed slightly at the acknowledgement of her achievement. "And you won't be fighting in the thick of combat. We will serve as a temporary distraction, so the rest of the Black Knights can escape."

Cornelia's eyes didn't stop spitting fire for a second. Euphemia watched the two with avid awareness, not quite sure who would back down.

With a sigh, Cornelia slumped back. "Fine, ZERO." She enunciated his alter ego. "We'll follow your plans."

"Good. Then come." Zero stated. He clicked a key and disengaged the steel barrier. The group silently followed him through the hallway.

_This is where I prove my mettle. _Euphemia thought.

"The plan has two major objectives. Cripple the Britannian forces and allow the Black Knights to escape. Cornelia, our involvement is riding heavily on your contact. Will he come through?"

She nodded affirmatively.

"Good. This is how we do it-"

**A/N: Initially, I was going to make this entire dock battle in a single chapter. However, I vastly misjudged the amount of words it would take, and am only now finishing the battle. Anyway, so that's why I had to cut off the chapter at this point. **

**Thanks to one l3largus for giving a sound opinion on giving Euphemia a Geass or not. I'm also against it at this point, as doing so would alter her character in a negative way for the reader. And thank you for the muffin. In return, please, have a banana.  
**

**To all of you suggesting I put in scenes with Suzaku, I finally was able to add him. I initially planning interactions with Suzaku, but never got around to editing him in. Better late than never, I suppose. **

**And why did I dilute C.C. and Lelouch's interactions in the second chapter? Well, I initially rushed through their pairing because I wanted to show their interactions together at Ashford Academy. However, in haste, it just became a bit less natural and more forced. So I'm going to have a slowly rising relationship.**

**And finally, thank you for your reads and reviews! **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Another note, right after I said that I dislike saying things at the start of the chapter. Just need to say, if you see a grammar error or horrible word mash, PLEASE tell me about it. I have a dense schedule, and I'm ashamed to say my proofreading has been lacking much so…..**

**Mobile Fortress Front**

**Sunday**

**6:00 AM**

The six pilots were gathered at the forefront of the Mobile Fortress. The battle had been very nearly beyond their limits, as each of them bore their brunt of bruises and cuts, slashes and lacerations across their entire bodies. Senba nursed a glancing bullet wound to this head while Chiba clutched at a broken wrist. Knightmares, barely operational, lay crumpled besides them. Only Tohdoh and Kallen weren't visibly shivering in the open air, though they all felt anxious. After all, the absolute best pilots of the Black Knights, the legends that dared defiance, were currently sitting vulnerable in an open field.

And it was not within their abilities to survey a war.

"This is BULLCRAP!" Chiba shouted, voicing the thoughts of everyone present. She turned to Tohdoh for support. "We need to be OUT THERE FIGHTING THE BRITANNIANS! Zero ordered a FULL retreat, the Mobile Fortress was a nice trick, but honestly, we'll be SLAUGHTERED when reinforcements arrive!"

"Zero has a plan. We must have faith in him." Tohdoh responded in a flat voice. His glassed eyes stared upwards at command deck of the fortress.

"Have faith in him? HAVE FAITH IN HIM? The man who doesn't even show his FACE!?" Chiba shouted, exasperated. "Tohdoh, you've asked a lot of us in the past, but this is just-"

Tohdoh slapped Chiba in a liquid motion. It was not an action one would come to expect of the famed Man of Miracles, but he had been chipped over the last twenty four hours, in the wake of the massacre and this delineating battle.

Chiba faltered back and landed on the ground, shocked. Her hand tentatively pressed at her stinging cheek.

"Chiba. I'll only say this once. What has the JLF managed to do in the years we've had? NOTHING. We were the falling leaves, the wind swept dust, BENEATH the notice of Britannia." Tohdoh eyed her coolly.

"And then Zero comes. He assassinated a PRINCE. He outsmarted and beat Britannia, _over_ and _over _again. And suddenly, Britannia can't help but notice us. They sent the Witch of Britannia personally to _put us down. _And then she failed. Backed into a corner, Britannia was forced to take desperate action."

He raised his head and stared at the four other pilots gathered. "It was all Zero. ALWAYS. Even if he does where the mask, even if he ISN'T Japanese, he lives every moment with this hatred at a front of his mind. And that is why, I have complete faith of Zero. That what he does, he does to kill the viper."

"Well said, General Tohdoh!" A high pitched whine filled the air as nine dense shapes condensed around them.

_Knightmares…._Kallen's raised hopes fell as she observed the models.

_Just Sutherlands._ _Six for each of us, one for Zero, one for... C.C? Then who's piloting the last two? _

The cockpit block of the left most Sutherland expanded, revealing their masked leader. Kallen sighed in relief, despite the situation. The image of Zero's bleeding form still haunted her.

A crash sounded to the right.

_Britannian reinforcements. Even the fortress won't be able to hold it off indefinitely!_

Zero stood. "Your mission is as follows. Eliminate the attack submarines surrounding the Black Submarine. The enemy is expecting no aquarius combat, besides the Black Submarine. These frames are equipped with aqua jets. Take them by surprise, and eject after you destroy your targets." The gunfire increased in the background. "Tohdoh, Kallen, and Senba. You will lead the attack. The rest of you will swim parallel to the Black submarine and collect their eject blocks."

"Wait." Asahina started, examining the presented _Sutherlands_. "These may be equipped with aqua jets, but not for a submersed environment. There's no breathing apparatus, no water tight weapons, and no guarantee that these will be able to take the pressure!"

"Agreed. Rakshata predicts fifteen minutes of optimal performance. By that time, all of you must be returned in the airlock of the is no other option. As for weapons…." Zero pointed down to the black cylinders strapped to each knightmare. "… Chaos Mines. The water will clip their abilities, but they should work well enough."

Behind them, a panel of machine gun turrets exploded.

"And what about you?" Tohdoh asked. Kallen nodded at the statement. After all, what was the point if their leader didn't manage to survive?

"I will stave off the Britannian reinforcements with my fellow comrades. They won't be able to resist a target like me."

"Zero!" Kallen interjected. "WE'RE NOT LEAVING YOU BEHIND! YOU CAN'T-"_  
_

Another explosion rocked the harbor. The left brace of the Mobile Fortress collapsed on itself, teetering the entire structure off balance. "My time here is limited. Don't worry, I have a plan to make it out alive. I wish you the best of luck." Zero slid back into his seat.

The five group members took Zero's cue and rushed to their respective _Sutherlands_. Only Kallen hesitated, for a fraction of a second, wondering what to do.

_Get a hold of yourself! This is ZERO we're talking about! Have faith in his plans. _She rushed to her _Sutherland._

The six pilots were cautious, fighting in an underwater environment. But Zero was putting himself on the line, gambling it all for the sake of the living. Following orders was the least they could do.

_If the king does not lead, how can he expect his subordinates to follow? _Kallen paused momentarily as she remembered the phrase, some off ball quote thrown around the halls of Ashford.

_A quote like that…and Zero's following it to the letter._

She spared a final glance at the masked revolutionary, the steel cockpit block closing around him. For all of his patter, Zero was a most peculiar man. Intelligent. Sly. Cold. Calculating.

_But… when it came down to it…. he's willing to risk his life, all to save the Black Knights. _Her thoughts turned once again to the most popular topic always on her mind. _Who IS Zero?_

* * *

Euphemia braced herself for the withering storm. The Mobile Fortress was on its last crutches, barely a quarter of the armaments still live. Cornelia, C.C., and Zero, stood tense at her right.

The cries of armor piercing bullets increased.

Adrenaline of a liquid fire surged through her system, optimizing every sense and muscle. She pivoted the right shoulder of her knightmare in impatience.

_Come on…. come on! _She took several deep breathes and wiped the accumulated sweat off her arms.

A final shot thundered across the now empty battlefield, followed quickly by the high pitched churning of landspinners.

"Get ready…." Cornelia whispered through the radio. Her own _Sutherland_ shifted backwards and brought her gun to bare.

A squad of eight _Sutherlands_ swerved across the corner and into their line of vision. Euphemia hesitated, her cocked gun just a small press away from firing.

_I'm…. I'm sorry! _She shut her eyes for the briefest of moments and mashed the button.

The Britannian troops barely marked their guns above parallel when the torrent of shots pierced their cockpits with ease. Three of the knightmares swiveled and impacted the ruins of a fallen building. The final two slumped to the ground, pilots dead or fatally wounded.

Cornelia and Lelouch went about war, briskly exchanging spent cartridges with new ammo. C.C. discarded her gun in favor of a bazooka left lying on the battlefield.

But Euphemia stared at one of the steel carcasses. Slowly, as if trudging through liquid air, she lifted the cockpit block for an open view the _Sutherland's_ pilot.

It was a Britannian male. Barely younger than Suzakau. He had shapeless red hair that flowed downwards past a straight chin. His nose was just barely crooked, protruding forward at the oddest of angles.

And his chest was missing.

Or rather, a large chunk of it was absent. The combination of high caliber anti-armor bullets and organic flesh never yielded a pleasant outcome.

Euphemia choked back bile and very nearly dropped the compartment at the sight of the very dead life.

_NO. Get a hold of yourself. This man was no civilian, no bystander, but a SOLDIER. He knew the consequences the moment he enlisted. _

She gently placed the cockpit back on the cold ground. _He was a soldier…. I AM a soldier. We both have our duties. _

Euphemia haphazardly reflected a mock salute. _For your service, and ultimate sacrifice, to Britannia. _

"And for your intentions, and personal beliefs, may you find peace in your next life" She stepped out from her crouch and prepared for the next advancement.

* * *

Lelouch watched Euphemia's actions out of the corner of his eye.

_Her first deliberate kill. _

He recalled his first murder, years ago, in the midst the invasion of Japan. Suzaku and Nunally, journeying across battlefields layered with the dead.

A hand shot out from what they had taken as another dead carcass.

It had grabbed Nunally's arm and yanked her from his back in a single motion. He could still remember the voice, the horrible rasp of death mixed desperation.

"Give me food. Give me FOOD! I'll off her! I've killed WOMEN and CHILDREN! Don't you doubt me! I'll do it! I'll do it-" That was as far as he got before a bullet permanently ended his life. Lelouch could still remember Suzaku's eyes, widening as they saw Lelouch's frail hands grasping the cobalt black of a standard issue pistol. Tears blurred the sides of his face.

Lelouch shook off the memories. Euphemia was now rotating away, having made peace with her victim. He could only watch sordidly as she continued preparations.

_From the first…. it only gets easier from there. _He thought somberly. With that, he flicked on the radio to an open transmission.

He stalled a second longer before gathering his conviction in a single surge of fury incarnate.

"I AM….. ZERO!"

* * *

"I AM….. ZERO!"

The voice boomed from within the second Mobile Fortress. The generals stared at the screen with rising panic. Intel had stated that the revolutionary had been absent, most likely killed in the massacre

But here he was, in the flesh.

And despite their advantage, despite having the masked man in the palm of their hands, cornered and played in every sense of the word, the generals still shivered at his form.

The cold drop in his voice, the steel flair, it all inspired a deeper churning of fear.

"I AM TRANSMITTING MY COORDINATES NOW, TO ALL UNITS WITHIN RANGE!" He raised his chin, staring at the screen with full hearted confidence. "COME AT ME IF YOU DARE."

The screen quickly flashed to black.

The generals sat back, stunned for a fraction of a second. But in the absence of his nightmare presence, they rediscovered their fool competence. One stepped forward, brash, young, wishing to take credit for the event.

"Send the Glaston Knights and all reserve knightmares! Bring me Zero's head!"

* * *

"-COME AT ME IF YOU DARE."

Kallen eye's widened at the proclamation.

_That's…. what he meant by holding them off. I never took him for a fool, but this is SUICIDE!_

She pushed her knightmare to full capacity. The best she could do now... was follow his plan.

As of now, she was three minutes into the mission, and her knightmare was quick to show the strain. Half of the motors in her legs had been immobilized a minute into the ocean. Her arms were slowly locking up. Behind her, a small stream of salt water filtered in through a crack in the wall.

In the distance, a shapeless black mass was barely visible.

_The submarine!_

Her radar beeped at the threat of inbound torpedoes. They flew forward in a single straight path. Kallen manipulated her Sutherland to easily dodge the oncoming ancillary, closing the distance to the submarine in half.

With the metal clank of spinning motors, a top hatch of the submarine slid open, revealing an entire salvo of awaiting missiles. There was a small crack as they took flight.

"Ha! You're getting desperate now!" Kalln muttered. With a small grunt, Kallen veered to the right and under the first five torpedoes. She flipped forward and allowed the final three to slip under her legs. She stopped as a stream of quick moving water whipped by the torso of her _Sutherland_.

"What…." she said. She backtracked as a sudden pod of torpedoes approached her with gaining speed. They were orange and slimmed to a diameter of a couple inches, obviously designed for quick movement.

One didn't seem like it would do much damage. But fifty? More than enough to shred her _Sutherland_.

Kallen turned on her side and dived as the torpedoes tore through her previous location.

"NO!" Kallen shouted as they sheared her right arm. She clutched the console as other torpedoes impacted on the Sutherland's armor.

A red flash cited the damage.

_Three shots to the legs. Four to the torso. One to the….. _She quickly looked to rear of the cockpit in alarm, spotting a steady stream of water spilling in.

"DAMMIT!" She charged forward at the now defenseless submarine. Kallen knew the rules of knightmare warfare better than anyone, the eject sequence was a modified protocol that could only be deliberately disabled from the outside. The outward pressure of water might not have been enough to trigger it, but a change in balance due to excess internal weight would instantly trip the system.

The cockpit continued to fill.

She had seconds.

Kallen screamed a primal statement of singular conviction as she activated the chaos mine and planted it clear on the top of the submarine.

She fingered the radio. "This is Q-1, ejecting now-" Kallen was thrown backwards as the cockpit ferried her away from the massive explosion of black energy.

Kallen watched with satisfaction from forward monitor as the chaos mine gutted the submarine.

_Any competent general would have classed at least some varied weapons…. for insurance if nothing else. _

She attempted to move her left foot, and was rewarded with the splayed sound of sloshing liquid. The water was halfway to her kneecaps and quickly rising.

"Oh shit."

* * *

The knightmare of Andreas Dalton was dashing forward to the sound of distant gun fire. To his right and left he was flanked by his five sons, raring for vengeance against the Black Knights. The only one missing was Guilford, who Dalton had forcefully dismissed from the operation on questions of his mental state.

Dalton had been through better days. His face had lost its customary stone mask. Dark shadows grabbed at the undersides of his eyes, while his hands shook atop the joystick controls. It was only by force of will that he didn't turn to his scanner and search for a specific IFF signal.

It would be the first battle of nearly three years where he didn't have to think of Cornelia.

Wouldn't have to think of the possible enemies that may target her, small traps specifically set for her unit. Wouldn't have to think of the possible alternative, Cornelia falling in battle, leaving only him to describe her demise to Euphemia.

He snarled with fury at the injustice. The implication that Cornelia might fall in combat one day had gradually settled into his mind, nothing could stop the strong willed princess from doing what was needed for victory, especially not the threat of battle.

But Euphemia? The innocent child, heart of the purest stauncher. In all his roaming, he had yet to see someone like her, full heartedly devoted to good.

She was the world's greatest chance for a bright future.

Was.

The World's.

Dead, she was dead. Both sisters had succumbed to a force he had never seen coming, the Black Knights.

Despite open hatred among members of the court, Dalton had respected the Black Knights. Fighting for liberty, justice, honor, driving the conflict forward against unparalleled odds.

The fervor to succeed, no matter who or what they were up against, was something he acknowledged to the highest degree.

But the SAZ massacre smashed all of his expectations. He had been wrong about the Black Knights. And it had cost him the lives of two princesses.

Why…. why did he let the Britannian soldiers take him away? His place should've been with CORNELIA, defending her to his last!

Dalton clenched his teeth. _Zero. When I find you…_

* * *

Euphemia finished the _Sutherland_ with a crosswise hack of her gun. The victim only joined the growing stack of armor on the battlefield.

Pressure had explosively increased within the last minutes as Britannia pooled all resources towards the killing of Zero, the final nail in the coffin for the Black Knights. Despite the lies told by the SAZ, Zero was still foremost a symbol, a near god like figure who independently opposed the Great Britannian Empire.

His existence incited resistance.

For that, Britannia would break him.

But not while _she_ had a say to it. The debris and fallen Command Fortress had funneled the enemy forces into a lewd gap, easy targets for their guns.

Eventually, though, they would succumb to the brute force. Euphemia held no illusions to their predicament, the _Sutherlands_ they faced were the front line throw aways Britannia had initially used against the Black Knights this day. Next to come, would be the elite.

"Zero! New enemy sighted!" Cornelia shouted on the shared com link. "It's….. the Glaston Knights!"

Euphemia breathed out in relief, despite herself.

The enemy, is was not Suzaku.

Had he been waiting on the sidelines to join the battle, he would no doubt have made his appearance with the elite squad. Euphemia would be forced to use her name to incapacitate him, a move that Zero warned her against.

His words, "You, of the moment, are dead. Cherish the gift….. anonymity never lasts long."

But the Glaston Knights were an entirely new problem unto themselves. Trained by the best, they were elite, strong, and fast. Pinnacle soldiers of the Empire.

And she knew them. How long had it been since she sat by the fire, listening to the famed general contrive a tile of simple fortitude, but endless entertainment. She had feared Andreas Dalton at one point. His demeanor of ice, the scar inscribed upon his face. But he was one of a growing Cornelia's most trusted allies, and thus she had been inscribed to his care once or twice while Cornelia completed her military training.

And in the time, she had learned his gentleness. The face that had been scared while saving the lives of a family of Sevens during the onslaught of hurricane Courtney. The hand that had adopted five Britannian orphans who had no where else to go.

She owed him her ideals. And if it came down to it, she wouldn't, couldn't, kill him.

But it didn't seem to be a topic of worry. The Glaston Knights weaved through the debris like a breeze, dodging a majority of the fire they had laid out.

The four them were good. But not against a team that had trained their entire lives for combat.

They had one advantage, but Zero was saving it for optimal effectiveness. And at any rate, she doubted either she or Cornelia could live with using it on the Glaston Knights.

"C.C…. Lelouch….. try to incapacitate only." Cornelia's tone was malleable, underling the sincerity of her statement.

_Hmph. Like we're even going to get the chance. _Euphemia thought.

She stood braced as the first of the Glaston Knights jumped the wall of bullets and closed for combat, gun long since discarded for a golden lance.

Euphemia reversed at the onslaught, attempting to shell out as much lead into her opponent's armor. But the custom knightmare was a hair faster, taking the initiative and slashed at Euphemia's torso. She rolled with the cut and sent the opponent's knightmare backwards with hit to the lower body from the barrell of her gun. She discarded the gun in favor of the miniaturized blade previously holstered at the hip of her knightmare.

The two body's jammed their ignition and rushed back towards each other. The other knightmare kept Euphemia at bay with constant jabs of his lance, preventing her from getting close. Euthemia felt herself being slowly driven into a corner.

_Damn. I need to move, quickly. IF he gets me cornered, that'll be it…._

Euphemia straightened as an idea occurred to her. She shifted her center of gravity forward and waited for the next stab of the lance. It jabbed forward, aimed to penetrate straight through her cockpit block. She instantly pushed her knightmare into the blow, feeling the tremors as the lance caught in her let shoulder. Her right hand impaled the knightmare's side with a dagger. She jumped back as the knightmare slumped to the ground, energy flow from the Yggdrasil Drive completely shut off.

"One... one down." She whispered to herself. She spared a moment to catch her breath, panting heavily at the recent of exertion.

_I should've listened to Cornelia earlier. Physical exercise. Why have I never tried it before. _

"YOU BASTARDS!" A gruff voice pitched through the radio waves. Euphemia turned slightly in recognition at the knightmare sprinting towards her.

_Dalton..?_

Her thoughts were cut short as the Dalton's knightmare put on a burst of speed, smashing a shoulder to Euphemia's already wounded frame. With practiced brutality, the Dalton pinned Euphemia's Sutherland to the back of the wall and shattered her remaining limbs with a lance.

The knightmare dropped Euphemia's disabled frame to the ground. He slowly placed a mechanical leg over the cockpit block.

"What….." Euphemia touched her forehead and found blood from the impact. _The attack... so fast!_

The monitor in front of her blinked red.

"NOW LISTEN HERE YOU COWARDLY SCUM." Dalton's voice traveled through his outbound speakers. There was a crunch as Dalton increased the pressure on the cockpit. Euphemi went for the radio, only to find it disabled with the rest of the equipment.

_Oh no. _She panicked and pressed the button again, and received the same response. _Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no-_

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT WOODWORK YOU CRAWLED OUT OF, bUT FOR THE LIVES OF EUTHEMIA AND CORNELIA-!" A snap sounded as steel rivets burst. Euphemia placed her hands on the sides of the closing walls, a feeble attempt at life.

"DIE!"

* * *

Cornelia was having her own problems. She was engaged with the presumed Alfred G. Dalton, a pilot of no small skill and no small mouth. They were both engaged in a gun fight, neither relinquishing their long range fighting abilities. Alfred was weaving in and out of fallen debris to shake her fire, while Cornelia committed to tailing her old ally.

"Ha! Is that all you can do, terrorist? Disappointing." He reversed to the left and out of view. As her knightmare approached the corner, she was backhanded by a quick lance slash to the right arm, severing the control nodes. The gun jumped out of her hand and to the ground.

"Pitiful. Just pitiful. And here I thought I'd be joining a fight!" Alfred reversed before she could counterattack with her knife. She looked up in preparation for the continued fight and froze instead.

A purple knightmare ripped off the mechanical limbs of Euphemia's _Sutherland_.

"Euphemia!" She shouted. A rank of bullets smashed into the her frame, preventing her from immediately going to her sister's assistance.

Cornelia's focus sharpened instantly.

She ran in a straight path towards her opposing knightmare frame. Seeing her movements, he raised his gun and laid down a textbook net of fire.

But she was expecting it.

Cornelia dodged the round, letting the next shots slam into her torso, where the armor was thickest. At the sight of her berserker onslaught, Alfred dropped the gun and gripped the lance.

She raised her arm with the knife. In a predictable fashion, Alfred positioned himself right foot forward, prepared to spear her cockpit block in a single blow. Ten feet from the enemy, Cornelia launched her slash harkens at Alfred's factsphere. Cornelia heard Alfred chuckle as he twisted to the right and parried the slash harkens, twisting back around to face Cornelia's.

"Really? I'm sorry. I know your desperate, but that was pathetic-" Alfred's voice, streaming through the sound system, was cut short by a short gasp.

Cornelia's knife had imbedded itself to the hilt at the interlocking joint between shoulder and chest. With a hiss, the weakened clasps automatically jettisoned the destroyed arm and the lance.

Cornelia snatched the fallen item and twirled it back towards her opponent. The tip hovered an inch before the cockpit block. Alfred had gone still and silent, grasping the fact that survival was prominently in the hand of his opponent.

_For Andreas. _She tripped the knightmare's ejection sequence with a minor puncture to the cockpit before speeding forward to the assistance of her sister.

From the distance, her mind registered the Dalton's booming voice.

"FOR THE LIVES OF CORNELIA AND EUPHEMIA-"

Cornelia reached the verge of panic at the spaced distance still between them.

_Dammit! I… I can't make it in time! _She grabbed her communicator, not caring what Lelouch's instructions had been.

She activated the radio.

* * *

"DIE!" Dalton's voice roared, easing fatal pressure onto his opponent's cockpit.

"CORNELIA LI BRITANNIA ORDERS YOU TO STOP!" Dalton paused, frazzled by the ear splitting voice.

_Impossible! A recording, it must be! _Nevertheless, he couldn't help but feel a dim lit blaze of re-surging hope flood his stricken mind. The steel sole of his knightmare eased off the crippled knightmare.

His thoughts were jarred as a purple knightmare frame tackled him from behind and shoved him clear of his would-be-victim.

Dalton clenched his teeth in anger. _So that was it. Just a trick to catch me off guard. _

He lashed out at his new opponent with his lance.

"How dare he use Cornelia against me. HOW DARE ZERO!" He abandoned his lance and grabbed the enemy knightmare frame with bare hands, squarely landing a kick on its chest plate.

But the other knightmare was no novice to the game. With one hand, it utilized his errant momentum to flip him to the ground and land a blow to the head of his knightmare, disabling his factsphere. Before he could use the advantage, Dalton gripped the knightmare's legs and tossed them off balance. He quickly righted himself and impaled his lance in the knightmare's left leg.

Missing both an arm and a leg, the knightmare collapsed, splayed out across the ground.

Dalt approached, comprehending his duty, but held back by the tiniest spark of hesitance. _Those moves…. the coordination… I've only seen them on one pilot-_

* * *

"Idiot… IDIOT!" Cornelia seethed at her own incompetence. She should've had a plan, should've created an alternate plan of action. No doubt Lelouch would've in a second.

And instead she was laying in the dirt, knightmare utterly spent.

Dalton's frame appeared to be almost frozen in contemplation, no doubt working the final curves to his identity. She grabbed for her communicator, but paused for a second.

She had used her name against Dalton once, in the midst of combat. He may have dismissed the first as a fluke, but a second time? It would all but confirm her identity. She and Euphemia would be thrust back into the courts, the madhouse of murderers and psychopaths, hidden behind wicked charm and polite reversal.

And Euphemia would die. Britannia had swung the momentum from her death, utilizing it to deprive the Black Knights of their greatest resource; the people. With her return, it would only be a matter of hours before another framing was arranged.

And she couldn't accept that. But it all flew back to one question: _Who is Dalton loyal to?_

Her radio crackled.

"Who is the pilot of this knightmare?" Dalton's voice came through, anger spent. His voice was tired, but laced with an undertone of desperation.

Before she could compose an answer, the distant landscape rippled with movement, a phalanx of approaching Sutherlands. _20 at the least….._

Zero's voice played through her communicator. "60 seconds Cornelia." She nodded in blind acceptance and rolled her knightmare towards Euphemia's, peeling back the steel cockpit with her one good hand.

_The things I do for you Euphemia…._

She hit the sequence to retract her cockpit. There was the hiss of retracting locks followed by a thick silence as Cornelia found the battlefield beleaguered around her.

It was a stunning sight. The landscape dotted by the reigning destruction. Buildings, pilfered and sacked, fallen in crumbled ruins. Broken knightmares, punctuating at intervals, now twisted clumps of dented metal. But somehow, inexplicably, the sun had managed to rise, a contrast of a rising red hue. The morning air breathed life to the sodden battlefield.

She quickly removed her headgear, letting her purple hair flourish to her shoulders, staring down Dalton's knightmare.

* * *

Dalton stared and kept on staring. His mouth hung slack in wordless pronouncement, tears lapping at his relief. He hit the button to eject the seat hard enough to damage the console. He had to see it with his own eyes, had to confirm the impossibility with his own sight, to be able to truly believe

that it was her.

She had the same obvious fire. Her hair, the shades of brilliant purple, blazing tin the morning sun. Eyes a purple blue blend. And the posture, proud and defiant, daring the world to scream at her.

Relief surged through him. Alive….. after all this time. It was only then that the second crashing abounded; _Why…. why are you fighting Britannia? With the Black Knights…..with ZERO?_

"….Princess Cornelia!" He traveled down his frame to the ground by a slip wire, pushing such thoughts out of his mind for the time being. He watched her take an identical step to the ground. "Cornelia!"

_It will work out fine now. She'll come back to Britannia. She has to! She's a princess of Britannia!_

_But… should she come back? _A small voice asked. _The SAZ…. why would they dismiss Guliford, Suzaku, and I? Something else happened, something Britannia is lying about. _

_And she knows it. _

He was within ten feet of his princess, watching her grip a feeble form from knightmare he had downed.

A feeble form with pink hair.

A silent chill overtook him. He stopped dead, eyes wide, words fleeing him. Cornelia, supporting Euphemia with one shoulder, passed him on the way back to her knightmare.

She turned towards him for a single instant.

"Things are happening in Britannia. Corrupt, sinister ideals. Praised for their very traits." She stopped for a second, a luxury she couldn't afford on the clock. "Britannia tried to have Euphemia assassinated. Her only safety now….. is in death."

With a fluid movement, her hand careened to her side and then out again, leveling a pistol at eye level.

Dalton's eyes didn't waver at the sight of the barrel, instead focusing on Cornelia's eyes.

Eyes ice old, aged. Not the same.

"I can forgive you for this. For hurting Euphemia, unintentionally. But should you choose to talk, to say ANYTHING that would compromise her nameless identity." Her voice dropped to a fatal pitch. "I swear, I'll kill you."

He briefly hesitated before replying with a military salute. "Your majesty, my loyalty has always been to you and Euphemia. You have my word, I will not speak of this."

Cornelia eyes him edgily before holstering her weapon. He swore he could see a sentence of gratitude pass through her complexion, before dissipating.

"This is my last order as Cornelia li Britannia. Dalton, get into your knightmare, and hit the eject. You and the Glaston Knights." She waited for the sound of his movements. "NOW!"

Dalton rushed to his knightmare, following her orders out of habit. He watched Cornelia climb into her cockpit, Euphemia still inert.

_God, I did that, I hurt Euphemia. _But more than that, the steady realization that Britannia had painted the target, not the Black Knights. _If it's true, BRITANNIA tried to assassinate the pair, then everything is a lie._

* * *

Lelouch was sweating profusely from within the metal cauldron. His knightmare was battered and worn, both front slash harkens disabled. To his right, C.C.'s knightmare wasn't faring any better.

From the highest level of the battlefield, he watched the three Glaston Knights regroup for another onslaught on his and C.C.'s location. Tactically speaking, it was less than ideal. Any height advantage gained was only lost by the open area, which heavily favored those with more combat experience. If more reinforcements showed up, they would be easily surrounded.

But he needed to see.

He needed to make sure that Cornelia and Euphemia would get out safely and without harm. He had very nearly gotten killed when he saw Euphemia's knightmare go down, freezing up and letting one of the Glaston Knights fire point blank. It was only C.C.'s timely intervention that saved him.

Lelouch diverted his attention to the group of approaching _Sutherlands_. A wall of purple steel, quickly advancing on their humble position. Following them was an a second Mobile Fortress, housing the generals, confident in assured victory. The Glaston Knights planning on taking them down with combined forces.

_Perfect._

"Schneizel." He mused. "I at least expected competence from your subordinates."

He moved his radio, activating the transmission to his allies. "Everyone! 5 seconds!" He clicked it off and activated his eject sequence. As the triple surge of fire propelled him into the air, he reached into the folds of his cloak and unveiled the small device with a single button.

"Long live….. JAPAN!" He clicked the beating trigger.

* * *

The generals were reclined back. Awash in their confidence of assured victory. The topic of conversation had turned away from war, and to the commodities of daily life.

Major Beck Hans watched the scene out of the corner of his eye.

It sickened him. Here, the finest of Britannia, the elite pompous fools who made their positions on the cash they shelled out. No skill, no strategy, just the whimsical thought that everything would turn out fine. And here as they partied, as more troops died, more Britannians suffered.

INEXCUSABLE!

One of the Generals noticed his sordid expression and walked over.

"Sir General Bale!" Beck responded with a salute. General Bale dismissed it with a wave, smiling gleefully.

"Why the sorry face! We're just about to kill Zero HIMSELF!" He wrapped an arm around Hans broad shoulders. "You should relax more, at least try to pretend to be happy!

_Don't do that. Don't you dare pretend like we're friends you arrogant scum- _He stopped his errant thoughts, and forced a small smile to his face.

"Of course, General." He replied. The general retreated, content with his expression.

"SIR! Confirmed! All hostiles have ejected from their frames!" A technician called. The generals laughed humorously at the statement

"Well, what are you waiting for? Just shoot them down-" Hans stopped paying attention. Focusing instead on the announcement.

_Ejecting? This is Zero we're fighting….. he understands the futility of it! Unless this is part of his strategy… unless….. _He turned towards the downed Mobile Fortress that had been commandeered by Zero.

_My god, could he be-_

"ALL FORCES! TAKE COVER NOW!" He shouted, turning on his com link. "FULL REVERSE!"

The generals looked up, now annoyed at the break in their mood. "Now Hans, I know you're a top notch soldier, but you need to-"

A blast of orange fire radiated from the G-1 Fortress. It surged outwards before shrinking slightly, the energy biding its time to reach full power. And then, with an explosive reversal, it expanded to the limits, encompassing the G-2 Fortress, its occupants, and nearly all the Britannian forces present at the dock, shredding steel and stripping flesh, a mercy-less hailstorm of conjunct metal.

From a distance, three cockpit blocks touched down on the ground.

**A/N: Ah don't have to much time to say stuff right now, as I ruined my schedule by waking up late in the morning. **

**Just want to say thanks to EDK, who left an excellently composed review of my story**


	5. Chapter 5

**Yamato Docks**

**7:50 AM**

**Monday**

Suzaku Kururugi stared at the rubble and steel carcasses surrounding the entire doc area. It looked the scene straight off of war. Bloody. Grisly. Hopeless. Dead Britannian soldiers. Dead Black Knights.

And at the heart of all the coffins, Zero.

The report reached Suzaku's ears two hours after the incident, and even that was only through the gossip of two low ranked soldiers. Zero had caused a massive explosion, furling G-1's mammoth yggdrassil drive as well as the destructive force of twenty fully equipped knightmares housed within the base.

It had caught every Britannian force within a thousand feet. It had completely demolished G-2 base and everything else caught within the maelstrom, grated to a hundred shards by the concussive force.

There were no survivors, except for the Glaston Knights. And, Suzaku presumed, Zero.

He was asked to deal clean up duty, of course. The combat prodigy _Lancelot, _relegated to the task of menial labor, when he could've saved **lives! **

Suzaku bent low and retrieved the still form of another knightmare pilot. The man was young, very nearly Suzaku's age, with red hair that lofted in the air.

He was missing a large chunk of torso. The blood had already run thick and dry, death a face long past. With a solemn expression, Suzaku turned and placed on the ground, equally spaced from the other multitudes of dead. The body bags would overcome them soon.

Suzaku turned face to look at the sky, sporadically cloudy, but still bleeding in sunlight, and imagined the Zero's smirked face.

"Damn you, Zero. Damn you. This…everything…..it's all your fault." Suzaku felt tears stain his eyes as he drew his Lancelot into a fighting stance. He aimed a punch at the wall.

"All. Your. FAULT!" He pummeled his fist into the compromised structure of the wall, leaving a large indent where his hands made contact. With a leap, he sprang into the air and mounted his VARIS gun.

"EVERYTHING!" He fired a cleave of green energy. It shot through the wall and blurred through the ruins laying next to it. The wall toppled upon itself.

Dust scattered to the air and gradually settled. Suzaku was panting heavily, despite the minimal movements.

"- warrant officer Suzaku Kururugi, come in! Come in Suzaku!" Cecile's voice crackled.

Suzaku lifted a hand to the receiver. "Yeah….. this is Kururugi. What do you want?" He couldn't help the tone from seeping in, as Cecile and Loyd deserved none of it. They had brought him in, unheeding of his race, and outfitted him with the weapons to defy his future and assemble his dream.

They were good people, even Loyd when he was in a good mood, and they deserved better.

But Suzaku was tired, exhausted emotionally from the bitter events that had transpired. _  
_

"Well, um, our systems detected the firing of the VARIS riffle, and I thought maybe you had found an enemy and-"

"It's fine. Just a mistake. Call me if there's anything else." He brushed Cecile off again, and could hear the hurt in her voice as she signed off.

He went back to hunting bodies.

* * *

**Rear storage units at Yamato Docks:**

**8:30 AM**

Guilford twisted around a final sweep, making certain that he had not been deliberately tailed.

He turned back and faced the building at the outskirts of the dock, one of the few completely untouched by the battle. A couple soldiers were looting the remaining the buildings. Cameras had sited Zero's cockpit touch down in this area, but every search had proved fruitless. The masked leader had vanished, without a trace.

But of course he had. Knowing Zero, he had probably calculated the blast radius down to an inch. To top it off, the remainder of the Black Knights had escaped. With heavy casualties inflicted on Britannian might; everything had played out exactly like Zero had planned.

Everything. But then the SAZ massacre came to mind, as it had in a million and one instances over the past two nights. He'd had his suspicions of its origins the moment it had broadcasted. As much as he wanted to hate Zero, to find a new focus for his ambitions, the facts failed to piece.

_Why would the Black Knights attack the Japanese?_

_Why were there no Britannian Knightmares?_

And most importantly;

_Why did Cornelia give that order? _

He'd been no fool. No direct announcement had been released, but he had heard snatches of small talk from the soldiers. Cornelia had frozen the systems of all knightmares at the SAZ. It was a loophole carefully hidden away among the swathes of white space in the program.

_It doesn't make sense….. why would Cornelia deliberately help the Black Knights? _

In the wake of their recent defeat, and the Black Knights' escape both here and at the SAZ, the soldiers turned their frustration out upon the infrastructure. Taking what they could find, breaking what they could not.

After all, this was only an Eleven's property, wasn't it?

Guilford breathed out and ran a hand through his hair. _The Elevens…. they've lost so much in the past days, what justice is it to continue to beret them? _

But he continued on, instead, not able to muster the strength for such an action.

The shattered barrier of ruckus and death cleanly halted only a couple feet ahead. The edge of the blast radius.

A warehouse stood before him

Guilford's senses sharpened instantaneously. _Cornelia. What have you gotten yourself into? _He thought back to last night, when the call had come.

He'd been at a bar at the time, dressed in civilian wear, staring down an amber colored fluid. So easy, so easy, to down the glass, refill, drink, refill, drink away his problems. Cornelia and Euphemia had been the center of his life…. his heart lacked its better half in the absence of his two princesses.

But despite that, despite EVERYTHING that had happened, he couldn't bring himself to drink the vile liquid. He was no alien to drinking, even sometimes with Cornelia, but she had aptly demonstrated her disdain for drinking away pain.

_Drink for fun, but you're real shit when you drink to forget._

The buzz of his phone barged through his thoughts. He checked it briskly, and very nearly set it down. It was an unknown number, but only a select few knew his cell in the first place.

He clicked the switch and held it his ear, marshaling his pride.

"H-" His voice singed and cracked, pathetic even to his standards. _Pull it together Guilford. _"Hello?"

There was a cackle of radio static.

"Guilford." the voice was soft, but the hard rigidity of it was still there. He was on his feet in a second.

"Vice-Roy Corn-" He started.

"DON'T SAY IT!" the voice yelled. "I'm asking for a favor. I swear I'll explain later, but I need you to bring a large shipping box, about the size to hold four people comfortably. It needs it to be a wooden crate on the outside, but reinforced with steel and impossible to open without a number code. Place it in warehouse 532 at Yamato docks. The key will be the _number of tries at the fair_."

Guilford paused at that declaration, only two others would know the significance of those words.

_This…. this is Cornelia._

"You have 4 hours. After the incident, go to warehouse 532 and await further instructions." Her voice stalled for a second. "And don't…. don't call me Vice-Roy anymore."

"Wait..wait! What incident? What are you-" The call disengaged with a click.

Guilford sat stunned for a multitude of moments, his thoughts a rambling train of "Cornelia is alive." With a smile, he stood from his position at the bar, deliberately knocking his glass to the floor, spilling its yellow liquid.

The box had been created. He had an engineer that owed him a favor, and who could easily whip up a finished product in two hours. The box was supposedly delivered in three.

After his talk with Cornelia, he'd been confined to his room, not to be present at the dock incident. Dalton's astute observation of his suddenly positive demeanor no doubt created worry over his mental health. However, he'd been allowed to play janitor after Britannia's defeat.

Guilford entered the warehouse. He could see why it had been picked. Insulated crates of frozen fish lined the walls in reverse. Dim lit bulbs spilled light in excess across the rows of stacked boxes. A couple had been cracked open and inherently destroyed, but the soldiers had obviously lost interest quickly at the call of more supple stock to vandalize.

There it was. The wooden crate. Placed accurately in the far corner of the room.

Guilford approached it hesitantly, not knowing what to expect from it. He assumed it held his princess, but what state of mind, what physical carnation, was unknown. A black keypad slid out under his touch.

He breathed out once and proceeded with the combination.

* * *

New to the top of his horror story list was sitting in a cramped expanse with three other notables of C.C., Cornelia, and Euphemia.

There was only one small vent near the top.

One.

Small.

Vent.

They'd been waiting in rancid breath for the whole of four hours. Temperature had spiked a half an hour in and proceeded only to climb through the duration of the wait. Even at rest, Lelouch was sweating uproariously, a condition mirrored by Euphemia and Cornelia. The bottom of the container was covered in the thick grime of dried sweat. Neither of the three had felt the desire to reduce their outer bulk.

C.C., of course, being C.C., had stripped down to her underwear. The other occupants were too exhausted to hazard it much thought.

"I swear, when I get out of here-" Lelouch began.

"- I'LL be the first one to kill Guilford." Cornelia finished. "And excuse me, YOU'RE not the one dying in a full combat uniform."

"Yes, but I am the one wearing the Zero mask. My face… is capriciously lodged in an unventilated cavity… surrounded by an even WORSE unventilated container." Lelouch growled back.

"- a mask that you'd be perfectly fine without right now. I don't know about you guys, but I'm wearing the full combat uniform, AND extra bulletproofing, AND ten pounds of extra equipment, AND the two layers of bullet armor underneath all this junk." Euphemia spoke up. "Thanks sis."

"Well EXCUSE ME for thinking of your safety first." Cornelia folded open her hands in a large gesture, or, as large as it could be in the confined space. "I am EVER so sorry for trying to give you the best possible odds. On the other hand, if you had stayed out of combat, like I recommended, YOU'D NEVER HAVE BEEN HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

"Ah yes. But let's not forget the fact that YOU were the one to tell Guilford to make a "box". I told you a freight would be fine, but you had to go and-"

The three forces continued with their familiar banter, Lelouch moving his mask to void the carbon dioxide build up. A small snore from C.C. went unnoticed as she shifted more to the right in her sleep. Lelouch caught the moment with his eye and shook his head, hardly believing her. In a superhuman feat, Drawing upon some scythed wellspring of strength, she had managed to fall asleep.

His thoughts lay conjunct around the slim body resting against his shoulder. His couldn't help but focus on her face, unblemished of hardship in her peaceful state.

_This… is the face she wore in her first life. The face that trusted, smiled, laughed and cried. _He thought. _Before it all. _ He cocked his head slightly and inadvertently ran his eyes over the rest of C.C.'s form.

He wasn't a stranger to C.C.'s looks, as she HAD been sleeping in the same room as him. But this was the first time that-

"What are you doing?" C.C. asked, face jerking up to stare at Lelouch and smiling slyly. He blushed feverishly underneath her piercing gaze and adverted his eyes downwards.

_How the hell does she do that!_

Cornelia and Euphemia were now facing him, expecting an answer.

"I… I was-" Lelouch said. A single bar of light expanded from the top corner of the box.

It was being opened.

Lelouch instantaneously slid his Zero mask into place. Cornelia and Euphemia wiped off as much sweat as possible in their efforts to look according. With a loud clank, the steel lined container collapsed to the ground. Silence reigned.

"Vice-Roy….. Cornelia?" A hesitant silhouette asked, illuminated sparsely by the dim overhanging lights.

Besides him, he could Cornelia smiling. _Guilford, without a doubt. _She thought. With a small ruffle of cloth, she stood.

* * *

Cornelia was standing before him. Not a phantom, not a illusion, not a hallucination , a life blooded Cornelia, as real and dignified as they came.

Guilford rushed forward in a second, hugging Cornelia close in an unorthodox show of manners. She lay stunned, in his embrace, for half a second, before returning it.

"Thank god…. THANK GOD you're still alive!" He said, choked with emotion, despite himself. "When I heard the news, that you and Euphemia were assassinated…."

"And Britannia very nearly managed it." Guilford turned to the sharp voice, and saw it manifest in a slightly ajar Euphemia.

"You…. your both are ALIVE!" He moved along the outside rim until he was adjacent to Euphemia, giving her a similar greeting.

_Both of them, are safe._

"But, here, we have to go tell Dalton, and the Royal Family, and the rest of the world! There was a day of mourning at your loss, everyone will be overjoyed to hear of you-"

"NO." Guilford paused, taken aback by the fury present in Cornelia's face. Her figures had twisted into a semblance of intense anger, a look he had seen only at the death of Lelouch and Nunnally.

"Let me tell you WHY. Because the beloved Empire is a rabid dog, snarling through foam and polluting the ideals and thoughts of the world. The SAZ…. Britannia's STAGE act. THEY committed genocide, THEY attempted to kill Zero, THEY almost had Euphemia assassinated!" Cornelia spat.

_All committed…. by Britannia? _He felt his features unconsciously switch to a mixed mold of surprise and horror.

Everything Cornelia said, it perfectly coincided with the material observation of events. Her request, helping the Black Knights, Britannia's odd proclamation, it was all there, all leading back to-

Britannia.

He hid his slated shock and looked evenly at Cornelia and Euphemia. "What…. will you do now? You could leave the country, I have contacts that can create a new identity, you can live a peaceful life outside of Imperial conflict."

Cornelia smiled warmly, shaking her head slightly at his offer. "I apologize, Guilford. But that is one thing I cannot accept, not on my honor or pride. They tried to kill Euphemia, deliberately done! If we're recognized, even once, they'll finish the job."

Guilford grimaced, having expected a similar answer. But honestly, what other choice did they have? "Then, Vice-Roy, Cornelia, what do you, and Princess Euphemia, plan to do?"

Cornelia directed her gaze downwards and ran a tired hand through her tussled hair. "We're joining the Black Knights."

"The…. Black Knights?" Guilford whispered. He rocked back on his heels before shoving forward and grasping Cornelia's shoulders. "Are you INSANE! The Black Knights are the worst option! Did you forget how they let the JLF take the fall at Narita? How they KILLED Clovis?" Cornelia winced slightly at the last proclamation. But she never dropped her composure, never offered a recourse of action. She didn't speak for a couple of moments.

"But…what about Britannia." Her tone was cold and laced with cold. "How many civilians DIED in the uprising of Sector 5? How many were killed in the suppression of Sector 3? God, here alone, how many Japanese died at Shinjuku? At the SAZ? At…." the voice lost its pitch, almost coming out as a quiet apology. "At Saitama."

Guilford didn't have an answer to that. He'd gone over the numbers personally over all of the said events, and the death rate only increased.

But he couldn't give in, not to walk their lives straight to Zero. In Britannia, there was semblance of stability, and if they stayed ahead of the game, organized a group of loyal soldiers, they wouldn't have to fear assassins. With Zero… no one could know his next move.

Guilford turned to Cornelia's younger half for support. "Euphemia! You can't do this! You can't walk into the hands of that cowardly madman! You can't-"

"SHUT UP!" Euphemia shouted. She turned towards Guilford, features ablaze in fire. Guilford mouth hung open midsentence at the sight.

_Euphemia, you never got angry, you never raised your voice. What has happened?_

"SHUT UP! You have NO IDEA what you're talking about! Zero is going against an empire that spans an entire THIRD OF THE GLOBE! And you call him not courageous? Fighting for the meek, keeping hope alive!" Guilford saw through Euphemia's spite to the tears coagulating at her eyes. "He…. he is nothing like you say."

"That's enough, Euphemia. You don't have to say anything else." A voice reaped in cold and incubated in night threatened the air. A third figure stood. Swept in black folds of a midnight cloth, standing tall and straight, mask foreboding in its barrenness. A sinister exclusion wormed its way into the atmosphere.

"Zero." Guilford breathed. It took a second to override his frozen stature. A blink later and a pistol was at hand, aimed stoically at the revolutionaries heart.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO EUPHEMIA AND CORNELIA!" Guilford shouted. "I SWEAR IF YOUR FORCING THEM TO THIS, IN ANY WAY, I'LL KILL YOU, HERE AND NOW!"

There was a mute abeyance as both sides digested the threat.

Cornelia then stared down the barrel of the gun. "Zero. Besides you and Euphemia, Guilford is the only man I whole heatedly trust." She turned around to stare Zero square in the face. "Please."

Guilford griped at the exchange. _Zero, the man Cornelia trusts the most?_

Zero stared at Cornelia for a second, contemplative of his actions. "Very well."

He slowly raised his arms, slowly and deliberately under threat, to unclasp the binds of his helmet. With a silk flourish, he brought the mask forward and down, making it so Guilford could only absorb his identities in the final seconds.

The man named Zero had the sharp face of a predator. Black hair marred his forehead in thick clumps, while his chin protruded forward with pride. Calculating eyes of a purple color strained against Guilford's own optics, pushing into his mind.

He recognized the face at once.

"Prince…. Prince LELOUCH!" He exclaimed, unconsciously dropping his gun and shifting into the better light. It had been years since he'd raised face against Lelouch's, years since their supposed death. Lady Marianne had been the first figure he'd respected. Earning her position through intense effort and dedication. She was the pinnacle of an ideal soldier. Her death drove him forward to even greater dedication to protect Cornelia and Euphemia to the best of his abilities.

Lelouch, was Zero. The long lost prince, masking himself to turn Britannia to ash.

Guilford chuckled and took off his glasses, cleaning them with the fringes of his uniform. "Well. Three members of the Royal Family, back from the dead. Three similar defects against the motherland." He leaned back to the wall and smiled as a whisper. "What a day this is turning out to be."

_Three members of the Imperial Family. Two of of which I'd follow to the ends of the Earth. _

"Very well. My car is waiting just outside, I'll be able to smuggle you three out, easily." Guilford said. He had no doubts of his actions, but in them he proclaimed betrayal against the country he had faithfully served his entire life.

"Four." Another person stood up. The voice was high and light, enunciated in a strict monotone. "My, all of you four shouting at each other. It makes it rather impossible to sleep."

Guilford adverted his gaze at the sight of her revealed form, coughing lightly with a red face.

"What…. were you guys doing, in that box?"

There was a single moment of silence before the four occupants avidly voiced their outrage.

* * *

**The Black Submarine**

**10:00 PM**

Kallen sat anxiously in the Black Submarine. They had docked a good five hundred miles from the battlefield on some bloody island. Far enough, hopefully, to be out of Britannia's direct search range.

They'd taken considerable damage from the past battle, catastrophic loses of most of their soldiers and resources. Yet in all of this, they had made well their escape, a due in no small credit to Zero.

His plan had succeeded optimally. Each forward submarine had been smashed, with no casualties on the six knightmare pilots. It had been catch play for a bit, but she'd made it back with the hull intact. And his final ace had guaranteed their getaway.

_Alive… to fight another day, I suppose. _Her gaze turned towards the hangar. It was overfilling with battered frames. Few had any movable limbs or digits at all, while the rest were twisted hunks of scarred metal. The unwounded pilots lay slumped around their knightmares. All the living quarters aboard had been commandeered for the wounded.

And they couldn't return home, not now.

_But the way the we are now, what can we hope to achieve?_

Kallen looked up at the purple _Sutherland _that had absorbed the air of the _Guren_. Her familiar knightmare had always been packed for transport in the recessed corner of the Black Submarine, a final safeguard for Rakshata's baby. And now it was gone. The slick crimson chrome replaced by an alien _Sutherland _from an unnamed pilot.

"The Lancelot could wipe us out, singlehandedly at this point." Kallen muttered. She winced as she leaned back and put pressure on her wounded side.

"You look like you could do with some sleep." Oghi said, rearing his face between the blank space of two knightmares. He clasped two mugs of coffee in his hands.

"Yeah. Couldn't we all?" Kallen said, though still taking the cup. Oghi joined her on the bench. Both of them took a moment to survey the scene and relax with the hot liquid.

"Any word from Zero?" Kallen asked in a low voice. The very stirring of that name offered hope in the black windows of the night, a hope she felt none of them were obligated to. As of now, it would likely be a lie

Oghi set down the mug and leaned forward to his knees. "Yeah, he managed to escape the perimeter, and says he'll contact us with further instructions."

Kallen let out a relieved breath. The revolutionary wouldn't be over, not until Zero was dead. Despite their best efforts, Britannia couldn't erase the man's fearsome reputation.

She suddenly stood up and her stretched her arms, uplifted by the small declaration. "Better see if anyone needs help with the repairs."

"Wait." Oghi's hand grabbed her shoulder. His voice was wavering, uncertain.

For the first time that day, Kallen was overtaken by how old the man looked. His eyes and posture had aged decades in the past few days, bags under eyes and bruises everywhere else. The Oghis she saw, was quickly losing hope.

In Zero's absence, he was instantly thrust into a position of high command, him being the most trusted of the senior officers. The death, the losses, the withering _purpose _of it all, weighed on him.

His eyes implored the ground. "We…. we can still win this, right?"

Kallen watched abated, uncertain how to react. "I….well….." She started. Oghi closed his eyes and shrunk smaller.

"Of COURSE we can WIN THIS!" She jokingly punched his shoulder. "WHAT kind of question is that? Remember what we were before? The gang of bartenders, teachers, janitors, highschoolers… and see how far we've come? Even now, we're twice what we were back then!"

She shouldered her leader to his feet. "Come on Oghi, I hear Tamaki is making trouble again in the cafeteria!"

Oghi paused, halfway between sitting and standing. "Yeah, I'd better go clear that out." He began edging out of the stadium, smiling slightly. "I swear, that Tamaki-"

When he was out of earshot, she sighed and turned back towards the ceiling. _If Oghi is in a mood like this, what of the others? _

Kallen's ears pricked up as a squad of commotion rushed by the open doorway. She scrambled from her position into the hallway.

"HEY! What's up?" She shouted at the wavering necklines. Only one bothered to turn around.

"Zero's back!" He yelled excitedly before rejoining the mass.

Kallen felt a thrill of coursed variance gush through her. She unconsciously joined the flood forward, only gaining perspective moments later.

_This….this is what Zero does. _She swiveled around at the various faces, alight with hopeful illumination. The cross haired tragedy had completely been forgotten.

_Above everything else… he gives us hope._

* * *

Zero absently tapped the desk of his office. It was a plain room, combed bare through necessity. There was a single television screen suspended across the front wall, while a simple computer hogged the desk. Euphemia and Cornelia were amply lounging on the blue couch at the front of the room.

They were both dressed in Zero costumes, in the time of a couple hours, he'd managed a mint set of clothes through his Geassed tailor and had them delivered to a drop off point. Their costumes were not complete mirrors of his own, slightly modified in alternating colors with masks of separate decals.

Euphemia's flared a dark rose theme, perfectly suitable to for her. Lighter accents of pink and a lighter red ran down the front and back. It had been slimmed down substantially, with focus on quickness and agile movement. Her mask was thinly sharpened in an oblong figure.

Cornelia's costume had been modified in similiarily. Her suit had been styled with shades of a dark blue and grey. Contrary to Euphemia's, Cornelia's design was created to reflect her resolute stature. Her shoulders were protected by thick pads that ended in spikes. A large rectangular cape hung straight to her legs. Besides two hornlike protrusions at the top of the mask, the design had remained the same.

Both Cornelia and Euphemia were disheveled, their faces said it all. The ride had offered a small respite from the rising fire, but not enough to be substantial

_My first reason for the mask; Leaders can't afford to put forward weak air. _

"3 minutes." Lelouch said. Euphemia straightened herself and put on her mask. Cornelia hesitated a second longer, scrutinizing him under a purple eye. She shoved the mask to her face.

_I'm shoving them to the sharks. The people who have the most reason in the world to hate them. _He looked them straight through the shielding material of his helmet. _Their trust will be validated._

He gripped the open door, beckoning the pair to follow.

* * *

Tohdoh watched the gathering crowd from the rear. The large hall, capable of holding nearly all members of the Black Knights, was not only a quarter full. A slight doorway just left of the stage was the set location of Zero's arrival.

Scanning the clouds, the toll of the last few days was blatantly obvious. Each face held its shares of scars, wounds, wrapped bandages, untold demons lurking behind haunted eyes. More than that was the expression they all wore, faces filled with light, a pale reverence to the masked revolutionary. The darkness that had shrouded them, it drove them to desperation.

_No man should command that type of follow. _

But he couldn't fault Zero for that. The recent events had arced wildly out of his control.

He individually picked out figures among the crowd; Chiba ten feet forward, Senba to the right, Asahina cast to the side, Urabe in the back. Each of them held back baleful gazes of disgust at the near worship demonstrated by Zero's followers, all more by the fact that those feelings weren't unfounded.

As much as Tohdoh hated to admit it, there was only one man with the capabilities to overstep their destruction.

A hush fell across the room in a rolling wave of turned heads. A silent phantom had entered the room, his figure looming over the rest. The dark cloud of cold intensity was felt by all.

Zero stopped dead center. When he moved, he moved with fast precision, voice rising quickly and thundering across the open room.

"**I am aware of the events that have transpired over the past days. We shudder at Britannia's crimes, the SLAUGHTER of the weak, the planned GENOCIDE against innocents who deserved none of it. By their actions, they have distinguished themselves execrably in the pits of cowardly desecration." **

Tohdoh could feel the heat of emanating anger from the audience.

"**But…. in this distrust, this FARCE, we found strength. STRENGTH TO RISE, STRENGTH TO FLY, TO DENY THE FATE CONDEMNED TO US."**

Zero swept his cape, refocusing the gaze of all present.

"**For you, I have nothing but pride. Fighting, outnumbered twenty to one, backed into a corner and beaten and kicked and flayed and YOU DID NOT BREAK!"**

**"You did not break. Not with anything that Britannia threw at you."**

He paused for a second.

"**The road forward…. it has only darkened. Filled with treachery, deceit, and all manner of able bodied corruption. But we will take it in stride, NEVER faltering, NEVER hesitating, forward to JAPAN! Forward to the shattered clasp, day scarred black in rising swells, THE DAY THAT BRITANNIA FALLS!"**

A deafening cheer reverberated through the dense enclosure of the submarine. People were shouting their support, personal pain completely forgotten in the dream bigger than all of them.

Tohdoh nodded assertively, smiling despite himself._ Zero. You didn't fail to impress. _

"**And we are flanked by new allies." **Tohdoh leaned inwards as two figures walked to Zero's sides. His hand extended leftward towards the figure of red. **"The BLACK HARPIE. And the BLACK GRIFFIN!"**

A grumble arose from the cheers. Eyes shot at the two figures with suspicion.

_It was hard enough for them to accept Zero, but two more? _Tohdoh thought. _What game is he playing at…._

Zero nodded expectantly. **"I understand your distrust, and apologize for withholding secrets. But it is of upmost importance that the identities of these two remain secret, two fold for their personal safety and our mission. But trust me, these two are our staunchest allies."**

He pointed towards Griffin. **"She is a high ranking noble-"** Singular shouts rang out. **"-who is risking everything to supply us with inside information. Should she be caught, she will be tortured and killed." **

"**Harpie fought Nonette Eneagram, KNIGHT OF 9, and emerged VICTROIOUS. She will fight as one of us, a sister in arms crossing swords with Britannia ON THE BATTLEFIELD."**

"**To all of you…. I ask to judge them by their actions, their bravery and determination, before their roles of birth." **Zero's faceless mask independently held the breath of the audience, challenging any to say differently. He turned, satisfied.

"**You will receive orders in a couple days. Rest, and be ready to give it your all. Tohdoh, Kallen, Oghi, and the Four Holy Swords, stay."**

Tohdoh leaned back against the wall, as the masses departed. Each one of them cast a backwards glance at Harpie and Griffin before exiting.

And then the room was empty.

Kallen was sitting straight in a chair next to Oghi, who was fidgeting nervously with his watch. Asahina, Chiba, Senba, and Urabe slowly moved to his sides. Zero stayed at his perch atop the stairs.

Eyes turned to Harpie as she stepped down from the ironclad stage, pulling up a chair. She sat in it with a slump and rested her head against a nearby table.

"HARPIE!" Griffin spat. The voice was low and strong, laced with commanding authority. "Stay standing! Suit your status!"

"I'm sorry. But I haven't had sleep in 24 hours." Harpie moaned. The voice that replied was of a higher pitch, younger and more innocent. She turned her head, away from the voice. "That tends to make someone sleepy."

A sudden clank bludgeoned the room. Seven heads turned towards the iron sheets that had slid down the doorways, sealing the room.

Asahina stood fiercely. "Zero, if this is you ideal of a trap-"

"Trap?" Zero interrupted. "After the SAZ, after Yamato docks, I have still not earned your trust?"

Asahina crossed his arms and eyed Harpie and Griffin. "Hmph. Like I can trust anyone with a mask."

"No, I could never expect that of you. But after all of this, I expect you to trust the mask, my intentions at the very least, to always move forward towards Japan."

Chiba took a step towards Zero. "Fine. We have faith in you actions. But what of them?" She pointed back towards the masked duo. "HOW DO WE KNOW WE CAN TRUST THEM!"

There was a stalled silence. "That, Chiba, is exactly what I hope to rectify. Harpie, Griffin please remove your masks."

The room was quiet as eyes turned and focused on the two of them. Harpie took the moment to stand and grab her helmet, an action copied by Griffin. There was a short buckle as clasps were released, followed by the two helmets being forced upwards and out, revealing-

Euphemia and Cornelia.

Euphemia li Britannia and Cornelia li Britannia.

Tohdoh's initial reaction was to go towards the gun concealed at his hip, and fire unhesitatingly, but Chiba was a second faster.

Before Zero could react, a shot pierced iron Cornelia's arm lower arm, exiting cleanly and impacting on the wall behind. Cornelia fell to one knee, hand clutching at the bleeding puncture.

_Damn, they acted faster than I thought! _Lelouch thought, instinctively moving towards Cornelia.

"YOU UNHOLY SCUM!" Ciba sneered. "THE NEXT SHOT GOES TO YOUR BRAIN-"

"No." Zero stood in front of the barrel, shielding Cornelia from fire. His voice wavered slightly, an alarming characteristic. "It won't."

Chiba's eyes didn't blink. "Zero, you've earned some cardinal respect from me, so I'll give you a second to get out of my way before I KILL THIS WRETCH!"

Tohdoh grabbed her shoulder. "Don't shoot, Chiba."

"And why THE HELL not!?" She asked with contempt. "This witch has slaughtered THOUSANDS. Remember Saitama? Area 18? Zero crossed the line when he allied himself with her! There's no telling when she'll betray us all!"

"Chiba, you saw the footage, at the very least! Zero wouldn't be alive if it weren't for them!" Kallen stated, jumping into the conversation.

Chiba narrowed her eyes. "So she saves ONE person. Does THAT somehow EXCUSE everything else? SHE STILL HAS TO PAY FOR-"

"What about the JLF hostage exchange?" Zero asked, cool voice shooting through Chiba's arguments. "The landslide at Narita that crushed a town? The poison gas that the predecessors of the Black Knights were planning to use?" Kallen and Oghi cast guilty glances downwards at that injection.

"The truth, all of us have hands that run black with curated blood of innocents." Zero spread his arms. "And we go on. Because we believe our purpose, our _goal_ is singular to that sacrifice."

"It took those deaths and more, for Cornelia to understand. Understand Britannia's crimes, and what must be done." Zero's voice dropped in volume. "At the end, we will all pay for our crimes. None of us are exempt from that. But for now, this is war. And she is needed to WIN."

Chiba's hand shook slightly, indecision clearly written out across her face. "No! I-"

"Will NOT shoot Euphemia, or me!" Cornelia rotated around Zero and raised her own gun, with her good arm, firing a bullet straight down the downwards slant of Chiba's weapon. It exploded the magazine, making Chiba drop the ruined gun to the ground with a yelp. She glared at Cornelia with death.

"Zero, Chiba still brings up a good point." Oghi said, leaning inwards. "How do we know for sure that we can trust them?" The question hung, suspended in the air.

"Do you have a choice?" A chilled voice asked. The group turned to look back, towards the bubble-gum haired princess. She stood upright from her seat, advancing straight towards Oghi. "Let me lay out the facts. Approximately 60% of the Black Knights are DEAD. The enemy has cut all of your resources. You are now limited to everything left on this submarine. And let me tell you, no one in the WORLD is looking to help you out, not now." Her face was now positioned inches away from Oghi's, eyes intensely bearing down on his.

"So your asking... why you should accept OUR help? Seems to me that you should be DOWN ON YOUR KNEES GRATEFUL that me and my sister are-"

BAM!

Kallen slugged the errant princess in the stomach, instantly dropping her to her knees.

"Euphie!" Conrelia called, rushing over to her side. She aimed her gun at Kallen. "If you touch her again-"

"SHUT IT." Cornelia froze at the fury in Kallen's words. "You think we NEED your help, Britannian filth? Let me say that we've done FINE without the likes of you, and will continue to, with you or not." She turned to face Euphemia. "So LET me tell you something, you little BITCH. You think you can stroll in here, and tell US what to do? Get off your high horse and smell the mud. You're in OUR world now. Get used to it."

Euphemia sat motionless, eyes still directed downwards. With a start, she suddenly stood up, her eyes quickly flickering from face to face.

"OH! Um... why's everybody looking at me?" She asked, voice woven with uncertainty. The coldness had fled her features. The group just stared at her with stony eyes. "Sorry...um, my name's Euphemia?" She held out her hand to Kallen, who stared at it with disgust.

"Save it, princess." Kallen brushed past Euphemia and retook her seat at the back of the room.

Zero watched Euphemia with a worried gaze. _What... what was that just now? I've never seen Euphemia act like that before... _

Tohdoh broke the stillness. "Everyone. You know the situation. You know what we're up against. We must take all the help we can get, even if that help is of questionable character." Tohdoh looked towards Euphemia at that statement. For the most part, Euphemia simply stood confused, not quite understanding the hostility directed at her. " Zero. I'll trust your judgment for now. But if they step out of line, show any indication of betraying us, and I'LL be the one pulling the trigger."

Zero nodded and clicked a switch, opening the doors. "Let me finish by reminding all of you that this conversation does not leave the room. It is imperative, for all future missions, that the information discussed here remain secret. Dismissed."

The group stepped forward from their places, slowly making their ways to the door. None of them turned their backs to Cornelia until they reached the hallway.

"Wait. Kallen." Cornelia stated, quietly. Kallen stopped, barely turning around.

"Yes-" A shot buried itself within the iron hull a couple inches away. She jumped back in surprise.

"If you EVER hurt Euphemia again, I'll kill you myself." Kallen mentally shuddered at the threat from the Witch of Britannia. She nodded once before joining the others in the hallway.

Euphemia looked at Zero from under her replaced mask, after the group had left.

"Well, that could've gone worse."

**A/N: Well, another chapter done and done. I got rid of the "C.C. x Lelouch" in the initial description box, because I'm debating another pairing.** **Probably won't change from my original idea, however.**

**On another note, I finished watching Deadman Wonderland. I actually enjoyed watching it, but I definitely recommend watching the first episode, and ONLY the first episode. Because boy, does Ganta's whining get on your nerves after a while.**


	6. Chapter 6

**The Black Submarine**

**2:30 AM**

**Tuesday**

The deep snagged growl filled the room before following a quiet decrescendo and fading away at an intake of breath.

There was a three second paused before it came again, this time a higher pitched rumble emitted from the throat.

Euphemia stared at the ceiling from the top of her bunk listening to her sister's snores. She loved her sister, very dearly, but her ability to snore with the elephants and somehow sleep through a nuclear holocaust were both quite annoying.

Lelouch had given them the securest of all rooms in the Black Submarine, an unfurnished steel casket devoid of all comforts. The bunk bed and wall mounted television were the only indigenous items. The only advantage the room offered was a 7 inch thick iron door, a density on par with the submarine's outer hull. No dresser, no desk, no chairs, no carpet no air conditioning control no plush pillows no lush blankets, nothing.

She sighed and refocused on her sister's excessive noise. The room choice was reasonable, as enemies prowled around them, but would it REALLY hurt to have one good blanket?

And it's not as if they were all bad people. Kallen, Oghi, and Tohdoh seemed to have taken her fact in stride with minimal aggressiveness.

_But that Chiba woman….. geez, and I thought Cornelia was the craziest._

Euphemia breathed out and fluffed up her pillow once more, turning facedown against the pillow. And turned to sleep….

…..except she couldn't.

A violet chill overtook the room

Light retreated and shadows stalked. Euphemia sat up, instantly on alert, eyes frantically scanning the room.

"Can't fall asleep, Massacre Princess?" Euphemia shot up as a dark cackle extended maniacally from a recess of the room.

"Who…." Euphemia whispered. Her arms clutched at her legs in pale fear. The voice twisted and curved, pooling around her senses. The chants increased;

"It's all your fault it's all your fault! It's all your fault IT'S AL!LYOU!RFAULTIT'S ALL!YOURF!AU!LTIT'S ALLY!OUR!FAULTIT'S A!LLYOURF!AULT!-"

"No!" Euphemia screamed, tucking into a ball. Her hands dragged firm across her legs as tears spilled openly from across her eyes. "Please…who are you-"

"Why, you should know who I am." The dark gust took a gassy form, condensing into the face of a Japanese man. "After all, you KILLED ME!" The form grabbed a knife like form and slit its throat, bending down until its head was attached by a thread of skin.

More bodies were appearing, heads torn, bodies mashed in shapeless silhouettes. "And you killed me! AND YOU KILLED ME! AND YOU KILLED ME!"

"Stop it, stop it PLEASE!" Euphemia spoke in sobs. "I didn't mean to kill you, it wasn't supposed to-"

"Oh? Did you forget?" Another body appeared, a red haired Britannian soldier with a crooked nose and missing chest. "HOW YOU KILLED ME!" The body twisted forward and grabbed Euphemia, shoving her against the wall. "DON'T WORRY, PRINCESS!" Its neck twisted at an inhuman angle. A knife was raised. "I JUST want to RETURN the FAVOR!"

"NO!" Euthemia finally shrieked. _Oh no, this can't be happening this can't this can't be real, no NO NO CONNA LULU HELP ME PLEAASE GOD PLEASE_

The blade jerked downwards towards her neck and-

A switch clicked.

A blinding haze of white light flooded the room, dispelling the hallucinations that swirled about. Euphemia stood frozen at the corner of the bed, choked at the past experience.

"Euphy?" Cornelia's voice called out from underneath, voice groggy but caring. "Did you have a nightmare?"

Euphemia composed her breath and heartbeat before responding. "Y-yeah. Just a nightmare."

"…. Do you want to sleep down on my bed?" Cornelia cited their practice of comfort when midnight terrors struck.

Euphemia began crying again, silent tears over what she couldn't do. "No, d-don't worry about me Cornelia. I'm fine…. just, just go back to sleep."

Cornelia waited a bit before responding. "Okay Euphemia, try to get some sleep though." Euphemia heard a scuffle as Cornelia reached to dowse the lights.

"Wait!" Euphemia cried. "Please…. please don't turn off the lights." Cornelia grunted in annoyance.

"Fine, but you'll owe me for this one." No words were said after that. After 5 minutes, Cornelia's constant snores bleed into the room.

Euphemia stood motionless in the same position, hoping that Cornelia hadn't detected the tremor in her voice. She only moved after the symphony began again, inspecting the damage she had done to herself.

Five parallel lines of sopping red ran from her kneecap to mid-thigh, present on both legs. There were two ugly welts on her left shoulder where her nails had dug into skin. Both extruded great pain, a thousand needle pricks focused in a single file.

Euphemia ignored it.

Blood stained the sheets a crimson hue. Euphemia watched in candid interest as the streams of red liquid rolled out of her cuts, dividing across multitudes until finally meeting the sheets.

Trembling fingers reached down the roots of blood, marring their tips with the liquid.

She giggled a bit, and then broke into an uproarious chuckle.

_Ha! This is my blood, my life, my red bleed. _She moved her fingers to her face, smearing the liquid across her features. She continued on and painted her entire body with the red liquid, until the flow finally stopped.

With a final chortle, Euphemia opened her small hand mirror, one of her few remaining possessions.

And there she was.

Inked with her own life force, crazed smile plastering her face. She giggled again at the sight.

_What would Cornelia think? Her precious Euphie…. covered in blood! _ She thought for another second.

_Bloodstained Euphie._

"Can you…..can you see the irony in all of this?" Euphemia beckoned to herself while gazing upwards. Her own voice joined the dim laughter of the dead.

* * *

**Ashford Academy**

**11:00 AM**

It was morning. Rising tides of a bright orange red flare emanated from the sun, now just visible over the peaks of the Tokyo Settlement. The air was crisp and inlaid with yesterday's humidity. A warm breeze buffeted plant life.

Lelouch sighed starkly at the sight of his home, Ashford Academy. The small car was brought to a stop near the front entrance.

He hadn't come home last night.

He'd stayed in his office at the Black Submarine, falling asleep slumped back in his chair. A dreamscape had broken wide, flooding his thoughts with errant subconsciousness.

In the dream, a samurai had fought a dragon. In a grisly conflict, scored with the death and skulls, fought across boards of queens and kings, the dragon finally gained the upper hand. He crouched over the wounded warrior, and asked, "Was it worth it? At the end?"

The dragon tore off the samurai's head and laughed.

The alarm woke him at 8. From there, he'd promptly contacted Euphemia and Cornelia. He'd called a car, Geassed the driver, and found himself sitting idle in a running car.

_Lelouch, you NEED to do this. _He stole another second of delay before opening the car door, beckoning for the inhabitants to follow.

It was inevitable, the following conversation. Especially now

_Nunnally….._

He found her on the rooftop garden. It was a favorite past time of her, enjoying the fragrance of plants drifting around her, even if she couldn't see them. Sayoko would hold up a specific flower, and then give its Japanese name while handing it off for Nunnally's inspection.

But Sayoko wasn't here now.

Nor was Nunnally paying any heed to the plant life around her. She simply sat at the edge of the roof, motionless in her wheelchair. A brisk breeze snatched her hair back.

He took a step forward. She stiffened a second, before relaxing.

"Lelouch? Is that you?" She asked, though already knowing the answer.

"Yes, Nunnally." Lelouch stepped forward, putting a steward hand on her shoulder. "It's me."

Nunnally gently laced her hand through his for comfort.

"Euphemia…. and Cornelia….. they're dead, aren't they." the last words came out in a choked sob. She lifted her hand from Lelouch's, bringing it up to her face as tears rolled thick.

"Euphy, and Conna, you two?" She cried. "Why, why do so many people have to die!"

Lelouch simply stared forward at the scenery with a shredded heart. The vantage point offered a skyward view of the Tokyo settlement; the winding streets and monorails, the ducking heads of a million strangers. In the background, a landscape of the tallest buildings, all situated on a steel plateau.

It tore him, inside, watching his sister. A wretched snag that clawed at his innards, threatening dissolution.

And here it was, this was the moment.

The moment of where he would tell Nunnally the truth, or never. A million thoughts zipped through the front of his mind.

_Tell her. She's already lost so many people in her life-_

_Don't! We have to protect her! You've been branded a terrorist-_

_What's the use of remaking the world for her, if you break her in the process-_

And the worst one; _What if…. she doesn't accept me? What if she hates me. What I've done, the people I've hurt. Would she ever forgive me?_

_In her shoes, would I ever forgive myself?_

He gently crouched in front of Nunnally, drawing back the hands from her face. He held them warmly with trembling hands. Silent tears welled, despite his refusal.

_I… I can't lose her! Not again!_

"N-nunnally. I have to tell you something." He gulped again and collected his tone. "Or, rather, it's something to show you."

He beckoned to the far doorway, where two shadowy profiles waited patiently. At his command, one pink haired form dashed forward and swept Nunnally in a loving grip of warmth.

Nunnally froze for a second in confusion. Her hands hesitatingly clasped the arm, before suddenly tightening in a vice grip.

"Euphemia?" She asked in restrained hope.

"Yes, Nunnally. Yes." Euphemia's face was streaked with infinite happiness at the reunion. At the sound of her voice, Nunnally's down expression instantly broke into one of joy mixed relief.

"Euphy, it's really you!" She turned her face to her shoulder. "I… the news said that you had died! That you and Conna-"

"-are very much alive, thank you very much." Cornelia slipped in behind Nunnally, grabbing the two in a giant hug. Nunnally's face turned towards the voice and broke out into a larger smile. Her hand broke off to tentatively touch the face of her two sisters.

"Onii-san, please, please tell me that I'm not dreaming…"

Lelouch let an affectionate chuckle cross his lips. He kneeled, and once again took her hands.

"Nunally. I swear to you. This is real, and they are alive." He then leaned forward and completed the embrace, all four members of the Imperial family content with the flowering happiness of closeness to each other.

Lelouch's thoughts barely flicked dark. _I swear Nunnally. I'll support, with whatever you think of me._

Twenty minutes later, they were all seated in Lelouch's sound-proofed and bug-swept room downstairs. Saoto had brought extra chairs, but only Cornelia felt content using one, as Euphemia claimed the bed and Lelouch took to pacing. C.C. had declared that she had business elsewhere, and had vanished before the confrontation.

Euphemia was chatting away with the party as a whole, discussing hit shows and funny experiences, with Cornelia chiming in occasionally.

Sayoko walked in and delivered a tray of tea and cookies for the party. She gently tapped Lelouch's shoulder.

"Do you… want me to leave for a bit?" She asked. She was more than knowledgeable on Lelouch's hidden activities, and understood what would come next.

Lelouch shook his head. "No, Sayoko. I'd appreciate it if you stayed. You've been with us for years, and are an equal member of my family. Nunnally will need your support."

Sayoko nodded with a flat face, though overtly pleased inside at Lelouch's words. She leaned to the wall left of the bed.

"So I told Dalton…. to splinter the poor thing with his knightmare! And he did!" Cornelia and Nunnally broke out in a light hearted laugh. "Boy, did I ever catch fire for that one. And this other time-"

Lelouch tuned the conversation out, focusing on the potent scenarios. _She asks me, I tell her, she moves away and vanishes. She asks, I tell her, she decides never to speak to me again. She asks, I tell her, she has a heart attack. She asks….. _the list rolled on and on, an endless chain of sequences.

_I've got to stall! I'll ask Saoto to-_

"Onii-san?" Lelouch went rigged at the voice. "How did you manage to save Euphy and Conna… from Zero and the Black Knights?" He breathed in quickly at the name of his alias, prepared to lie like a rug.

_No, you started this. You're more than committed now. _

"Nunnally." Lelouch spoke softly, almost imperceptibly. "I am Zero, the leader of the Black Knights." Nunnally gasped at the exclamation at the exclamation. For a second, her features held a barricade of denial, but then crumbled as the pieces aligned.

"Rescuing Suzaku, saving the members of the student council at the hotel…" Her face shifted with lines of drawn pain.

"Onii-san…. if you're Zero, why did all of those people have to die?" She asked. Her breath grew quick as drops of water once again began manifesting at her eyes.

_No….Nunally! Please, please don't!_ "I…..I don't, I don't know… it was –" Lelouch stuttered, caught completely speechless. His thoughts refused to marshal.

BANG! Euphemia sat upright In a frenzy, knocking over the bed stand.

"IT WAS ZERO WHO KILLED THEM? LIKE HELL!" She yelled. Everyone's eyes turned towards her exclamation. "IT WAS DAMN BRITANNIA! THEY TOLD THE LIES, THEY SENT THE ASSASSINS, THEY SHOT THE GAS, THEY KILLED THEM, ALL OF THEM, NO MERCY, NO REGARDS TO HUMANITY!"

Her eyes took on a mad glare, a stark contrast to the loving care that had been present a moment ago. "IT WAS THEM, IT WAS THEM, IT WAS THEMITWASTHEMITWASTHEM-"

Cornelia wrapped Euphemia in an embrace. "Shush, Euphy." she whispered. At that Euphemia calmed down. Her breaths grew long as her heartbeat slowed.

"I-I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." she said back in her usual tone. The insanity faded from her complexion.

Lelouch stared openly at his half-sister. _Euphemia….shouting and swearing, and that look…. _

He shook his head, the SAZ had obviously shaken her on a level she didn't acknowledge.

"Britannia…. was responsible?" Nunnally asked, breaking the silence. Lelouch's nerves calmed another notch, Euphemia's outburst having burst the stretch of anxiety. Cornelia moved forward, saving him the trouble of explanation.

"Yes, Nunnally. Britannia tried to have Euphemia killed, while in conference with Zero." Cornelia shook her head sadly. "After… they attacked the surrounding Japanese, and blamed the Black Knights for it all."

"And it was my fault." Euphemia squeaked through a scattered expression. "The SAZ. It was all my idea. If I hadn't committed to it, hadn't pushed it forward, despite how everyone else had told me to stop-"

"Britannia would've found another way to kill them." Lelouch stated, edging closer to the group. "Schneizel…. is too smart not to have a backup plan. And the knightmares, the ones the used to frame the Black Knights, it all takes time." He counted upwards on his fingers. "The special paint job, the pilots, the weapons, the forgery, oaths of secrecy….Schneizel was planning on something big, whether the SAZ was to exist or not."

_But…. a man of Schneizel's capabilities, he could've easily set it up within the day._

He stepped down to look Euphemia in the eye, putting on his most persuasive voice. "So stop blaming yourself, okay?"

Euphemia nodded dumbly at his proclamation, face looking at least a bit uplifted.

_Thank god, she bought it. _Lelouch thought. Cornelia's countenance suggested a similar line of thought. He then turned towards Nunnally, putting a hand on each of her shoulders.

"Nunnally, please. I need to know what you're feeling, about Euphemia and Cornelia, about Britannia," He took a slow breath. "And about me."

Nunnally tilted her head upwards, towards Euphemia and Cornelia. Lelouch dropped his hands to his sides.

"To Euphemia and Cornelia, I am the happiest to see them still alive. Being close to you again…. it reminds me of the happiest times in my life.

"Britannia's actions...are beyond horrible. However, with Euphemia and Cornelia having been raised on Britannian ideals, and still turn out the way they are now, it can't be all bad. But I can understand the actions taken against her." Her face went back down towards Lelouch's level.

"And to you, Onii-san. You are my brother. The most important person in my life. You, who took care of me in a land of strangers, who stood up to the King for me, who carried me through battefields of the dead, who gambles, and spends all the money to support us….. how could you ever think my feelings towards you would change?"

She suddenly bent forward, grabbing Lelouch in a thick hug. "Onii-san, Lelouch, Zero. No matter what happens, with whatever choices, decisions you make, I will always stand by you. Because you…." she and smiled reassuringly. "…have always stood for me.

Lelouch felt a cool wave of relief wash over him as the fears of his worst nightmares, finally resolved.. He remained in the embrace for several instants before backing out.

"Nunnally. Thank you."

* * *

**Viceroy's Palace**

**2:45 PM**

Gilford stalked the halls, on edge despite the familiarity of his surroundings. Dalton had summoned him to his office, for reasons unknown. He could have tried to refuse such an order, but with Cornelia's disappearance, Dalton was technically his superior.

_Does he….could he know about my helping of Zero? Does he suspect? Impossible, I left no trace! _He pushed such feelings past as he continued forward.

He paused as he stood in front of the steel portal, waiting for a second before knocking on the door. It slid open unceremoniously. Guilford stepped into the room.

The room was auspiciously decorated, a contrast to his and Cornelia's. A red patterned rug hugged the floor, while the blue windows were covered by a Britannian flag. Dalton was sitting behind a desk, hands folded in front of him.

_Dalton. _Guilford thought. The man had been Cornelia's knight years before Guilford had joined them. Young and still aspiring, Guilford had hated the man, imagining his usage of manipulation and bribery to secure his position. But those feelings had faded to gradual respect, as Dalton proved his grit time and time again on the battlefield.

Something of the man drove him to beyond greatness, and Cornelia recognized it.

_But… if you threaten Cornelia, or Euphemia, even after all we've been through…_

Guilford gave a military salute. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

Dalton beckoned to the only open chair in front of him, expression unreadable.

"Guilford, take a seat." After following his orders, Dalton continued. "I have one question; where does your loyalty lie?"

Guilord locked up for a moment, unfreezing in reflex a second later. "My loyalty belongs to the flag and lifeblood of Britannia. Every bullet I fire, order I follow, is purposed to further that loyalty."

_Textbook answer._

Dalton watched him with intensity, gauging his expression.

"You're lying." He stated, simply. "Answer truthfully. Foremost, WHERE DOES YOUR LOYALTY LIE?"

Guilford didn't blink an eye the second time around. "My loyalty is to Britannia, first."

There was a flash of annoyance behind Dalton's face, but it quickly faded to neutrality. "Very well." He took a breath. "Suppose I tell you that Britannia has received intelligence of Cornelia's, more, shady activities. Drug smuggling, black market dealings, control over the slave trade-"

Guilford's eyes widened, then narrowed viciously towards the man. _Lies…. all of it. Slander.  
_

"-inhumane experimentation, helping corporations bypass the law, and the bribes she's accepted." He sat back with a resigned expression. "Frankly, it's not looking good for the past Viceroy."

Guilford balled his hands behind his back, to maintain control over his features. "Sir, why are you telling me this?"

Dalton watched forward, analyzing him meticulously. "Because, they found her, yesterday. She was brought back, and tried instantly in the Royal Court."

Guilord choked and anxiously leaned forward.

"They've sentenced her to death, immediately. At 3 'o' clock, on the dot, in five minutes." Guilford stood with pallid fear. He leaned against the back wall for support, hand on his face.

_Cornelia…. captured!? Impossible! I made sure we weren't followed!_

He turned markedly and walked towards the doorframe and smashed the switch to open the door. _Cornelia…I've got to get to Cornelia!_

The door didn't open. On closer inspection, the normal green label on the keypad had been highlighted a deep red.

_Locked from the inside. _He felt a chill travel down his spine.

Guilford carefully dipped his head forward, making no sudden movements. His hand moved across in a calculated movement to the handle of his gun.

"-Guilford, where are you going in such a hurry?" Dalton asked. His voice had dropped a pitch, becoming cool, serene.

He barred his teeth. _Dalton, for you to sunk this low…_

Guilford forced a small laugh. "Well, you see Dalton, your words made me remember my loyalty, SINGULARILY AND STRICTLY TO CORNELIA-" Guilford's form blurred as he spun one eighty degrees, gun blurring as it moved from his holster to his hand.

But Dalton was ready. A single shot leaped from the outstretched barrel of his own gun, hitting Guilford's gun and igniting the ammo strip. Guilford dropped the weapon reflexively. His eyes bore down on Dalton with intense hate, his mind seeing reason no lie, considering his situation.

"You make me SICK! You sickling BASTARD! IS THIS WHAT YOU'VE BEEN REDUCED TO? Or maybe, maybe this is what you've always been. God, I can't believe I EVER looked up to you-" A bullet dented the steel inches away from Guilford's head.

Both forces faced each other. Guilford, a checked gust of barely held back rage, and Dalton, still wearing an unreadable mask.

"Go ahead. KILL ME!" Guilford snarled. There was a flash of something kind in Dalton's eyes, followed quickly by an expression of mirth.

"Everything I've just stated, is a lie." Dalton laid the gun parallel on the table. "For the next stage, I had to guarantee your loyalty, not to Britannia, not to me, but to the wellbeing of the Princess."

"...what?" Guilford's thoughts parried backwards, trying to fully comprehend his words.

Dalton wore a severe expression when he continued. "Let me lay the facts. Cornelia has not been recaptured, she has not been spotted. According to Britannia, she is dead. However, I've fallen into information that-"

"I've seen her." Guilford interrupted, bluntly. He took back the chair opposite the desk. "I helped her and some comrades escape from Yamato docks, just last morning."

"YOU DID WHAT!?" Dalton exclaimed, in marked surprise. "BLOODY HELL, WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THAT CHARADE I JUST PUT ON! AND DAMMIT, WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS SOONER?"

Guilford shrugged, smiling at Dalton's reaction. "Well, I had to GURANTEE your loyalty first…." He then launched into an apt account of yesterday, beginning with Sunday's phone call, and ending with dropping the four of them off at a drop off point.

He carefully suppressed details regarding Zero, and a certain lost prince. Information of that caliber wasn't his to reveal.

Dalton's face was a tired husk after the story concluded. He spoke softly.

"Damn. Well, that's, just, Damn." He spread his fingers wide across the table. "Britannia…. is it really that corrupt? All these years, serving and fighting, only to extend this madness-"

Guilford nodded in sympathy. His mind had walked the same road of disbelief, and then utter regret, just hours ago.

"Cornelia will be returning to Britannia, to act as a double agent for the Black Knights. She already has my support…. what of you?"

"HA!" Dalton barked. "Do you have to ask? If Cornelia needs allies, those who won't stab her in the back, then I'll stand with her! From now, to the end of me!"

Guilford smiled, in a much better mood than a couple of moments ago.

* * *

The JLF, or what remained of them, were situated thickly in the convoluted subways beneath Japan. Most of the other generals had been defeated, and as such the round table was mostly circumvented by minor officers. The majority of their heads were bowed in defeat.

"We…the Japanese Liberation Front, WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS!" A recently promoted officer said, more of a frail squeak than a commanding declaration. The officer mentioned wildly wheeled around the gathered for support. Heads slowly turned towards the figure at the back of the room.

Towards General Chiyo, the final surviving general of the JLF.

The man that was not of an impressive figure, at first glance. His hair was grey with age, a web of wrinkles spread over his wry features. He had brown eyes, optics that had witnessed everything from the gradual rise of Britannian Power, to the fall of the Japanese people. The standard faded green JLF uniform was his attire. A multicolored insignia displayed his status.

He'd made his name in on the field of Europe, providing stratagems against the Britannian front. Hit and run onslaughts, underhanded ambushes, anything to stay ahead. He'd rejoined the Japanese military when Britannia had begun to put pressure towards the annexation of the small country, rising to the top of the intelligence department. Tohdoh's achievements were widespread throughout the world, but few had heard of Chiyo, the man responsible for attaining the cut throat intelligence used in Britannia's largest military defeat in decades.

But he'd been regulated to below the highest position of command over the last decade. Something of his actions, his mind and features, showed a sharpness and brutality foreign even to the likes of Britannia.

"And what to you, plan to do about it?" asked Chiyo, voice low and gruff. "Exclamations as of yours have NO substance, NO advantage, just useless chaff on the wind. If you proceed with words like those-" He turned his full gaze onto the errant soldier. "-then kill yourself, and save us the trouble."

The officer gulped and looked downwards.

Another officer steppe up. "But sir….we have to do something! We can't let the Black Knights just WALK AWAY from everything-"

"FOOLS!" Chiyo shouted, immediately silencing the others. "Since when has Britannia laid bare the truth? When have you placed intelligence gathered by the enemy over your own intellect?"

He placed his hands together, a contemplative gesture. "Frankly, I applaud this ploy of Britannia. Manipulation of the game pieces, turning the Black Knights' arguably greatest strength into weakness."

"At any rate, this chance is but a minor lapse in our own plans." He clicked a button on the desk, activating a holographic display anchored in the floor.

"If everything works out, in the coming month, we'll be one step closer to liberation…."

* * *

C.C. watched the scene through a second pair of eyes. She was underneath Ashford Academy, a stolen laptop plugged into Lelouch's surveillance system that ran all throughout the campus.

He'd wired it meticulously, days after unmasking himself as his fight with Mao. The rising risk of putting Nunnally and his friends was too great to not warrant precautions. The security issues didn't stop there. Extra precautions, installed gun turrets, hidden traps, were all disquietly added to the campus.

Basically, from the one room, it would be easy to turn Ashford Academy into the world's largest morgue of high school students.

C.C. focused on the happy reunion of the imperial siblings. They all wore happy expressions, for the moment unblemished by the world's cruelties.

_To be able to do that….. love someone, or a group of people, and they love you back….. how beautiful that must feel._

She shook her head as she propped the laptop against the side of the wall and continued down the hallway, rapping her knuckles twice against the dead end.

"Identification…. C.C." She prompted. There was a computerized buzz, followed by a click as a keypad unsheathed itself from the barrier.

_3.…8…9…1…..3 _Her fingers typed, in quick succession.

There was a small exchange as the computer ran a final check on her fingerprints.

She smirked a bit in the time. Lelouch had prided himself with his fastidious methods, yet he'd missed the greatest fact, hiding just under his nose.

An artificial voice sounded, "Confirmed, Director C.C. Welcome back." A dim squeal of grinding gears sounded as the entire wall drew back, giving her a clean view of its innards.

The high pitched wine of linked processors overcame the room. As well as housing Lelouch's command center, the underground cellar was also responsible to containing the Ashford databanks. Rows upon rows of machinery stacked upwards to the ceiling, contained strictly in the chilled room. Large swathes of compacted information detailed a hidden agenda.

Quite frankly, the Ashford Family had a larger stake in the world than anyone could imagine.

And when the time came, it could change everything.

The door swung shut behind her.

**Omake 6.5:**

Lelouch stared down Mr. Ashford with furious intensity. He'd been summoned to the office, a nice room of refined books and a single desk. The back window held a clear cut view of the enter school campus.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T ADVANCE TO THE NEXT GRADE!" He yelled as he slammed his hands into the desk. "I'VE GOT THE CREDITS! I'M PASSING ALL OF MY CLASSES-"

"- besides gym." Mr. Ashford sighed. He massaged the bridge of his nose and leaned onto his elbows.

"You're HOLDING me BACK because I'm not passing GYM? Lelouch said incredulously. "In the best academic school of Japan, you're holding ME back because I don't monkey down on the tracks?!"

"Lelouch, we've had this conversation before. It's an area requirement, you HAVE to receive a passing grade in gym to move up."

"Mr. Ashford, with all due respect, you've hidden mine and Nunnally's EXISTENCE from the rest of the world, I don't believe you get more illegal than that!"

Lelouch let the statement hang in the air, watching as Mr. Ashford direct his gaze downwards.

Lelouch gasped. "So you CAN bump me up, anyway, but you're not?" Lelouch watched Mr. Ashford hide the smallest of grins.

"Lelouch you've missed three fourths of all you gym classes. Three fourths! You have to make a visible effort not to go to gym if you miss that many classes." He leaned back in his chair. "Now, I don't know about you, but when I was your age-"

_Oh hell no. Don't you start this again._

"-personal fitness was an important trait! I can't tell you how many times my friends and I would run, wrestle, all to see who was the strongest. Physical exercise can teach you values that will last you the rest of your life!"

Lelouch sighed and shut his eyes. "Fine, just tell me what I have to do to make it up."

"After school, every day, hour and a half of excercising." He stated with finality. Lelouch stared with an exasperated expression.

"AN HOUR! I'm busy enough as it is after school! I won't have time to-"

"Do you want to pass?" Mr. Ashford asked in a straight tone.

Lelouch twitched slightly before standing, ready to leave. "Fine. Have it your way."

_I'll rig the cameras. I'll Geass the witnesses. There is no way in hell I'm doing-_

"And Lelouch? I'll personally visit you in the gym, every day. I'll also assign Milly, or someone else from the student council, to spot you."

Lelouch's grin was a barely concealed demon. "That's…..FINE. Mr. Ashford." He walked out of the room.

**A/N: Eh, a bit shorter chapter. But I'd like to imagine that all the stuff that's happening is good compensation for its shortness. **

**I originally scripted the scene at the end to figure somewhere in the middle, but it just ended up interrupting the flow of the story. Soooo... I just labeled it as an Omake. Cause I didn't want to waste it.'**

**On another note, I got a bunch of reviews commenting about the pairing of this story. Okay, let me start by saying that throughout both seasons I have been strictly LELOUCH x C.C. It was basically that initial idea that drove this story.**

**But, I have this other idea. No one start shouting, don't instantly start hating on it, but how would you honestly feel about the story following an Anya x Lelouch pattern? I've already written the next chapter with some interaction between the two, but who he ends up with is not even close to being set in stone. ****If you have the time and an account, please fill out the poll on my account, about the possible pairings: Lelouch x C.C., x Anya, or x Euphemia (Euphemia probably won't happen, because because. No x Kallen, I won't even consider THAT).**


	7. Chapter 7

**Ashford Academy**

**4:50 AM**

**Wednesday**

Cornelia awoke from her stupor with a start, sitting up and examining her surroundings. She was in a four post bed with blue blankets draped across her. The bedroom was wide, fully outfitted with mirrors, dressers, carpets, rugs, a private bathroom, basically everything that wasn't necessary for life. A digital clock sat next to her; 4:50 AM

She sighed and laid back down again. _One of Lelouch's rooms…. I'm at Ashford Academy. _

She dimly recalled last night, meeting Nunnally, and then all retiring to separate bedrooms. Cornelia was wary at first, but Lelouch had demonstrated his extensive security by hunting down the poor sycamore in the backyard with automatic turrets.

And then she'd fallen asleep. She'd always been a heavy sleeper, but tonight, a loud thump had startled her rest. It had come from directly down the hall, and Cornelia had rushed to her sister's room, only to wake a rather irritable Euphemia from sleep.

_But… honestly. I swear the sound originated from Euphemia's room._

She shook her head and stood up, finding it impossible to go back to sleep. With a grimace, she put on the jeans and purple shirt that C.C. had gotten for her.

_Why anyone would prefer clothes like these over something with flexibility and movement? Honestly, there's no way I could fight at peak efficiency in these._

She opened the door and made her way down to the main living room. She was very conscious that Ashford Academy was a school, but once again, Lelouch has assured her that all the entrances and exits were covered and locked.

"Morning, Cornelia." She jumped a bit at the voice, relaxing only when she saw the speaker.

"Good morning to you to, Lelouch." The boy was sitting on an armchair, briefly looking up from his laptop. His hair was combed back and clothes unwrinkled, despite the early morning.

She stumbled the last few stairs and into the couch, laying down lengthwise. "So why the hell are you up so early, dressed this nicely? You got school or something?"

"I only get about three hours of sleep every night. Running a revolution, maintaining my day identity, it all takes time and effort." He answered, simply. "And no. I'm calling in sick for school today."

"Uh-huh." Cornelia continued to stare at the grey patterned ceiling. Besides Lelouch's small movements, the room was still. It took her a second to realize the absence of the ever vigilant ninja maid.

"Where's Sayoko? She's been on you tail every moment since you've come back to Ashford."

His eyes flicked off of his work. "She went to the early morning market, to purchase some ingredients for breakfast. I told her I could make breakfast, but she insisted on going out of her way to cook up something special for you two."

She nodded as she digested this information. Her countenance flickered to sadness.

"Why…. does she not hate us?" Cornelia asked, still not turning to look at Lelouch. "After everything, EVERYTHING, that Britannia, no, THAT I did, how can she still treat me, like a…."

The clicking stopped.

"….. human?" Cornelia breathed. She turned, finding Lelouch intensely staring at her.

"Cornelia. She treats you the way she does, BECAUSE you're human. Because we're all human." He turned his attention back to his computer. "And like any normal human, you make mistakes. The important focus, is how you live as a result of these mistakes."

He leaned back. "Have you learned from errors? Have you become a better person, because of them? If you, Cornelia, were the exact same Cornelia of a couple days ago, before your faults came to light, Sayoko would kill you in a second."

"But you're not the same Cornelia, just as Euphemia is not the same Euphemia. You have both changed, and Sayoko recognizes it. That is why, she treats you the way she does."

Cornelia nodded solemnly, recalling Zero's words from yesterday. _"It took those deaths and more, for her to realize her mistake." _

_The cost of understanding…. a million times to high. _

She gripped the couch tighter. _But, if Lelouch says is true, then it's what comes next that truly matters. _

"….. and the fact that she has someone stronger to beat u- I mean spar with, does help." Cornelia's eyes twitched as she whipped a cushion from the couch and hurtled it at her brother.

"IDIOT! If you think you can sell me out, just to get a pass from honing your combat skills, YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING!"

Lelouch looked up, alarmed. "N-now hold on a second, sis, I've got-"

Cornelia sprung like a tiger, sitting on the couch one instant, five feet from the ground and hurtling towards Lelouch like meteor a second later.

"YOU NEED THE TRAINING MORE THAN ME!" She shouted, before completely bearing down on him.

The laptop dropped to the ground in a clatter as Cornelia had Lelouch facedown on the rug in a blink. She held one arm behind his back as she pinned the rest of his limbs.

"Cornelia, I can't brea-mpghai" She pushed his head into the carpet, smothering his words. "Frankly, I sometimes regret learning you were Zero. I thought my opponent could offer at least SOME physical ability."

"MMGHPH!"

"Fine." She said, getting off of Lelouch's body and allowing him to breathe again. She took her seat back on the couch, ignoring his death gaze.

"But seriously, Lelouch, you need the exercise. Your lack of endurance and strength is going to kill you someday."

"I DON'T NEED TO HEAR IT!" He stated authoritatively. "I already get enough of this from Mr. Ashford. And he's already making me get an HOUR OF EXERCISE AFTERSCHOOL!"

"Well good for him. It can only do you good." He grumbled at that statement, talking a bit about 'Geassing everyone at the gym' before replacing his laptop on his lap.

Cornelia just smiled, back in her position of laying down on the couch. Small things like this, tiny gestures of close familiarity, were the thing she missed most from Lelouch and Nunnally. Besides Euphemia, she felt alienated from nearly everyone else in the Imperial family, mother and father included.

_And the world thinks that we have everything, just because we're royalty. _She gave a small laugh at the thought.

Gradually, the sun began to rise, slowly tipping over the horizon and scattering rays of gold across the room from the open window. Her eyes began to droop, as the morning's momentary insomnia began to fade under the safe presence of her brother.

* * *

**Above Tokyo Settlement**

**4:00 PM**

A deep hum filled the air as a goliath construct overtook the sky above the Tokyo settlement. The ship was massively rectangular in its form, two mid-sized wings protruding from its sides. Giant plates of white armor meshed together, leading up the front to the glassed command deck. Arrays of mounted gun ran down the sides of the ship in a grid format. However, even more fearsome was its stacked armory. Missiles and ancillary of every nature, all capable of being armed individually within the minute. A black emblazed word indicated its name, the _Minotaur. _

The _Minotaur _had made its debut in the E.U. conflict. In a straight on combat, it easily smashed a swathe through enemy forces. However, more mobile enemy units quickly learned how to circumnavigate the beast. It was later dispatched to handle the rebellion in Area 13, and then to Area 5.

To say the least, it had an impressive combat record.

But the ship was outdated. Bloated steel lines ran across the seams of the steel plates, an indication of the capacious maintenance the ship had repeatedly undergone. The bullets fitted into the guns were the generic anti-armor rounds, the only ammo capable of being feed into the manually commanded turrets, while the missiles could easily be blocked by a blaze luminous shield. The _Minotaur_ had been one of the first leaps in massive avian technology and was thusly equipped with the Levitation Device, the grandfather of the Float System. It was now considered clunky and inefficient by current standards.

Despite the fact that it should have been decomissioned years ago, it still flew. A feat of no small credit due to Anya Alstreim, the Knight of 6. Rather than dismantling the ship, she had adopted it as her personnel consort, cruising at a slow speed from continent to continent, whenever traveling to a new location.

It annoyed the hell out of the rest of the Knights, besides Gino, but then again, Anya wasn't one to care.

She currently resided on the command deck of the giant hulk, overseeing the operation of the ship. Twenty technicians sat before separate monitors, each responsible for the control of a separate system.

She slouched over as she watched the ship began its final descent. The command point, in her opinion, could ALWAYS do with more comfortable seating arrangements. She could very well be laying in her bed, awaiting landfall, but she always got a certain thrill whenever in charge of such a large vessel.

She stiffened slightly as a positive presence appeared behind her.

"Ready to get your PARTY on, Anya?" Gino appeared to her left, slinging an arm around her shoulders. He grinned cockily at her.

_Of course. _She drawled. _He's got to be dressed so blatantly…_

He was wearing no shirt, and swim trunks. A pair of cheap, star shaped sunglasses hung over his face. His other hand was occupied with a pile of beach towels.

She shrugged assuredly. "Dull, very dull. What you do with your free time is up to you. Keep in mind that you're still going to be held responsible for your duties."

"Ah come ON!" He shouted theatrically, wheeling backwards for effect. "We're going to JAPAN! Beaches, babes, and fun! We've been stuck fighting the E.U. for MONTHS NOW! You need to relax some more. After all, why else would you come to this rock?"

"To pay my respects to Nonnette, the recently _deceased _Knight of 6."

"Oh, like you REALLY mean that. Honestly, any of the other Knights were willing to go, but somehow you perked up first to volunteer." He flicked his shades upwards, staring straight down at her with blue eyes. "I'm still trying to figure out that part."

Anya paused for a second. In truth, she had next to no idea why she had decided to go. Nonnette had been an acquaintance level friend at best. But there she'd been, raising her hand and enthusiastically declaring, "I WANT TO GO, SEND ME, SEND ME, SEND ME!"

Anya inwardly groaned into her palm, belaying her usual indifference. _God, did I look like a fool back there. _

She then looked back at Gino. "But I don't recall you having to come."

"Have you not JUST been listening to me? Fighting the E.U.! Nothing but work, work, work, work, work. Besides, it's not like I'd abandon my bud on a whim! I've also got some business in Japan to touch up on."

He turned backwards, making his way back to his room. "Anyway, I need to finish checking some stuff from my room. Call me when we land!" There was a slight beep of a door opening and closing, followed by silence.

Anya waited a moment before breathing out. _ Sometimes, talking to him can be such a chore._

She immediately reasserted her cold demeanor.

"How long until we land?"

"Five minutes, Captain!" A voice called from the front. Anya nodded curtly. She took out her phone and breezed through some important reports regarding Japan.

_Sakuradite resources, installation of the "Number" System, the Britannian Invasion, and…_

Her finger paused at the picture of a certain Britannian Prince, smiling happily as he played in the fields of the Ares Villa.

"Possibly, something interesting." She muttered.

* * *

An hour later, Anya was sitting at an elongated table in the mess hall of the Viceroy's palace, staring down what looked like exquisitely colored goop. Apparently, even months after his death, Clovis's very _interesting _habits were still aloof.

She was alone at the table. Gino had long since vanished, going "exploring" in the grand city, no doubt making a fool of himself. But as much as she hated to admit it, she had no other friends besides him, and the fact DID bother her.

Occasionally.

Currently, the entire building was in disarray from the death of their Viceroy. The office cubicles were completely void, as the workforce still waited for further instruction. The few who did seem to be doing work were performing it hesitantly, looking over their shoulders constantly. Others were simply running amok looking busy.

She'd questioned a senior officer why the Viceroy's palace had been thrust into such disarray. He gave one panicked look at her stature, rank, demeanor, and formally collapsed on the ground.

_Incredible… and sad. _She thought. _All of this disorganization over one Viceroy? Impressive loyalty._

_But then again, the mark of a good machine is if it works, no matter what pieces are missing._

She prodded the unfortunate lump on her plate, considering her options carefully.

_And this was the most edible looking plate they serve here…. _she thought miserably.

Her fork punctured the meat, swooping it to her mouth. The initial taste was salty, followed by a flourish of dim bitterness. There was a small crunch as some inner compartment was breached, spilling out a thick liquid that was exactly like-

_Wasabi!_

She spit the food out, instantaneously, as the red hot burning enveloped her taste buds. She stood up, affronted by the plate.

"Who, in their right mind, puts chunks of WASABI in ICE CREAM!" She spat, with emotion that one would not usually associate with the introverted girl. The entirety of the office froze to gawk at the outburst from the Knight of 6.

With a flick, she turned around and made way to the exit, intent on finding dinner elsewhere. She briskly bypassed the outer guard and outside.

"Wait! Ms. Alstreim!" Anya didn't bother to slow or turn at the voice. "Procedures state that I can't allow you to go into the city unaccompanied!" The rising sound of an approaching set of feet continued.

Anya closed her eyes and counted down from ten.

With a quick flash, she jumped back and connected with a kick to the chest. The man gasped quickly and was sent sprawling on the grass, clutching his sides.

She was on him in a second, a foot pressing his face to the mud.

"Listen." Her voice was of a monotone caliber, a tone the unfortunate guard found even more terrifying. "I'm going to walk out of here, and come back in a couple of hours. I will not need bodyguards, I will not need surveillance, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

The guard could only nod in agreement.

"Good, I'm glad we had this discussion." She then took off her Rounds coat and set it over the guard. "Deliver this to my room."

And with that, Anya Alstreim blended among the moving crowds, quickly disappearing from view.

* * *

**Ashford Academy**

**9:00 PM**

Cornelia glared at Lelouch with a triumphant grin. Her hand sent three garrisons of soldiers gunning for his capitol, instantly turning the tide against his reign.

The man had instantaneously taken control. Strategic feints and advances had slowly chipped away at their power, while only strengthening his own. With his last move, he had amassed a giant fortress of troops, gathered around claimed countries.

It certainly didn't help that he held all the bonuses, boosting his defensive ability by an additional 50%. Almost unsurpassable. Almost invincible.

But not quite.

"Ha! How about THAT Lelouch!" She smirked. At great cost to her own forces, she had managed to break down the defenses surrounding North and South America. _Won't be able to monopolize those soldiers anymore! _

For the most part, his mask of indifference never slipped at the loss of his singular advantage. But Cornelia could swear she saw him begin to sweat on the side.

She rested backwards on her seat, nodding curtly to C.C., Nunnally, and Euphemia. The had all been hesitant about playing the game at all, but Nunnally had stated that if they narrated the battles, she could follow along easily enough. Which she did, never missing a beat or opportunity because of her disability. A tactical mind obviously shared with her brother.

With an open flourish, the three revealed their aces, fifteen recruitment points in total, a small sum considering that it involved all three of them. But Lelouch had effectively reduced their ability to draw recruitment cards by minimizing conflicts.

Making engagements that only he could win at.

Each took their turn independently, drafting soldiers and taking advantage of the spearfront Cornelia had lead. By the conclusion, the board had been entirely reshuffled in alternating colors of blue, yellow, red, and green. The last vestiges of black were confined entirely to Australia, and a singular splotch in Russai.

"I believe, Lelouch, that this is CHECKMATE." C.C. replied curtly, letting a small grin leak to her face. He didn't reply, except for a short narrowing of eyes. The four allies jumped up in the air, hugging each other happily.

"You LOSE Lelouch! Admit it-"

"We just beat Zero, the master tactician-"

"I believe, you owe us-"

"No card up our sleeve this-"

The four voices blended together, all yelling with glee at the still figure. He mumbled something, a comment lost in the cacophony.

"What's that?" Euphemia mocked, leaning in close with a good natured grin. "Say that again, please?"

He stood up abruptly. "I said, SHUT UP!" The partying of the four females ended quickly at his exclamation. He waited until he had their full attention, affixing them with a singular stare before continuing.

"The game isn't over until someone loses. Do well to remember that." He sat down again, but in a completely reversed mood from before. His body posture was lax, smiling slyly as he reclined in his chair.

"Now, Euphemia, I'd like you to announce the draft cards on my side of the table." Euphemia gave him a quick loser that had "sore loser" written all over it, before, quickly flipping the cards that he had, until recently, kept confidential.

They all gasped. Each one of the cards were of a double star, indicating a small total of twenty recruitment points. The ability to draft twenty or so new troops.

"WHAT? Lelouch, how the HELL did you get so many double cards!" Cornelia demanded with a frustrated exclamation.

"All's fair in war." With a small grin, he placed a significant amount of Japan, while the other troops went into his patched network of control over the rest of Asia.

_Shit. We're in trouble. _Conrleia glowered. _We channeled all our forces to break North America, while leaving nothing to guard our back. _

_But then again, we've still conquered at least two thirds of the board…..!_

"Nunnally I'll attack China with three troops. Euphemia, I'll attack Siberia with two troops. Cornelia, I'll be-" And so on his rampage continued, until the shadows of the "Lelouchian Empire" extended outwards to all of Asia, sneaking small tendrils into all other continents.

C.C. took the die in a clenched fist and rolled them. A "2" and a "1", negligible towards Lelouch's "5" and "6". She leapt up onto the table.

"Godammit Lelouch! You're cheating somehow!" His response was to shrug innocently.

"C.C,, lease calm down." Nunnally stated, comfortably. "The CCEN (Cornelia.C. .Nunnally) still controls two thirds of the world. As good as Nii-san is, he can't compare to our drafting power!"

He smiled, like a shark. "You would be positively correct in that fact. And if you were all playing with a single color, I'd have quit a long time ago. But that's not the case." He pointed to their recently conquered countries, as well as the continents he had managed to place troops into. "You imagine that your alliance is strength, when it is actually weakness! Look at your countries, what do you see?"

He stopped for a second, to allow them to look.

"I see nothing less than an un-unified front, a massive clump of alternating loyalties. And because of that, not one continent is under a singular control. "His last sentence was drowning in justified arrogance. "Therefore, none of you get continent troop bonuses."

"Yeah, so what?" Euphemia asked.

"So, I now control all of Asia, as well as Australia. You don't have any bordering countries with significant troop numbers, and it'll take at least a single turn to relocate. And, in a turn, I'll have drafted a combined force of 30 troops! While you can only draft 12 combined!" He laughed triumphantly. "CHECKMATE indeed!"

The four others slumped in disappointment, with alternating grumbles and crossed arms.

"So you risked your capitol, all on the slim chance that we'd take the bait?" Cornelia asked incredulously. If it was possible, Lelouc's grin only expanded.

"Absolutely. If the king does not lead, how can he expect his-"

"Oh HELL NO!" Euphemia jumped to the table, knocking the _Risk _board to the ground and scattering the pieces. "YOU'RE NOT SAYING THAT AGAIN!"

With a feral cry, she leapt forward, grabbing Lelouch and wrestling him to the ground.

It was not much of a fight. If the present company had any lesser indication of Lelouch's physical prowess, they would have looked away from the conflict in shame. As it went, there was no surprise in when the innocent looking princess had Lelouch pinned in under five seconds. After twenty additional seconds, he stopped his attempts to get out of the hold.

…_.. why the heck do I keep getting beaten by girls today. _He wondered dimly.

"Now, Lelouch. I think it's rather unfair how you keep winning at these games." Euphemia stated, sweetly. "You're going to go out, and buy candy for all of us. Right? She suddenly leaned in closer. "RIIGHHHT?"

He scoffed. "Yeah right. That wasn't the bet, we stated that if I won-"

"Going to buy us candy, RIIIGGHT?" Lelouch stopped speaking as he observed his present company. All four girls were sitting around him in a circle, leaning in menacingly. Cornelia casually got up and flicked the top tip of his nose.

"Let me tell you, when I was in the military, they used all sorts of punishments to toughen us up. Can you guess the name of one of them?" He didn't answer.

"It was called…" Lelouch's eyes widened in recognition.

These were the four people in the world that he loved the most, C.C. included.

These were the four people in the world that he feared the most, Nunnally included.

_Damn. There's… there's no way out of this!_

He sighed and stopped his struggling, looking up with defeated eyes. "Fine. I'll get the candy, but you guys owe me."

Euphemia nodded contently, letting her arms slacken as Lelouch moved out of the hold.

"Well, at least it's nice weather, Nii-san-"

CRACKOOM! A fearsome bolt of lightning slashed the sky in two. There was the small patter or coming rain, followed closely by a wicked downpour as the storm hit its stride.

Lelouch stared out the door, at the night and the pouring rain, then quickly back to the four devil women.

He grabbed a coat and departed quickly.

* * *

To say the least, Anya Alstreim was not enjoying her time out. She hadn't given it a second thought, exiting the Viceroy's Palace with deploring haste.

With not a cent, not an item, not even her Knight of the Rounds coat to accompany her.

All she had on was her standard attire that she wore beneath her coat, a black shirt and white shorts that optimized free movement. Despite her neutrality on everything life concerning, she started to hate the way the cloth clung to her form in the dense rain.

A sudden hooded figure brushed past her in a breeze, shoving her lightly out of the way. Behind her was a familiar looking shirtless, bond, loud knight.

"DAMMIT! WAIT UP DUDE! I JUST WANT TO TALK!" Gino yelled fiercely, barely keeping up with the figure. He was unaware of her presence as he passed her. The two vanished in the afternoon downpour.

She exhaled melodramatically, cocking her head towards the falling sound of footsteps.

"What was that about?" She mused out loud. Another thought occurred to her. "Should I …have asked for directions?"

She shrugged uncaringly a second later, and continued her walk forward, intent on taking cover in a nearby convenience store. The smallest of sounds from the shadows made her pause.

_Looks like….something interesting. _Anya thought, analyzing the faint figure in the darkness.

A hand shot out from the alley. It bent forward, clamping pudgy fingers around Anya's mouth. The other hand dragged her into the alley.

The man was Japanese, muttering quietly under his breath. He was wearing a large brown trench coat that sagged with filled pockets. The voice and form of his face suggested someone at least thirty years old. A left hand held a phone to his ear, the other pinning her to the wall of the alley.

"…high nobility, I'm thinking. Yeah, I'll see you at the rendezvous." With a click, he shut the flip phone and let it drop into his pocket, turning his full attention back to her.

"Name." He said. Low and commanding. "Status and parents."

"….What?"

"Tell me your name, parents, and status. What are you? A Margrave? A Duke? " He spat out each word with scornful hate, pressing his arm harder against her frame. She barely winced at the increased pressure, still watching the man with obvious bewilderment.

He smirked, misreading her expression. "That's right, I KNOW THAT YOU'RE NOBILITY. Yeah, I've been tailing you for a while. And let me say, only clueless nobility don't know how to-"

Anya slashed above his eyes with a horizontal cut of her hands. He screamed once and leaped back, releasing her from his grip. The flow of blood was stemmed by his hand.

The sudden pain obfuscated his vision, making him act reflexively out of anger.

And not focus on, for instance, _WHY THIS GIRL WAS ABLE TO PERFORM A BLACK BELT LEVEL MOVE._

"Oh man, you're in for some serious shit now, girl!" His hands were balled into fists at his side, trembling slightly in the rain. She lightly reassessed the presumed age of the man.

_Must be around twenty or twenty one._

"Boring. Very boring. I thought you'd try to kill me, at the very least. But you're not. Just a kidnapper." Her tone was flat, though showing a tinge of disappointment.

"You…. you, YOU!" He sputtered, lunging forward and grabbing Anya by the throat. "BRITANNIAN SCUM!"

She frowned slightly. His hands, choking her neck, were grasping all the wrong points. Nevertheless, she could feel her air supply depleting rapidly.

_Ah well. Not interesting after all…. _

Before she could act, a voice of steel called out from the front of the ally.

"LET HER GO!**"**

* * *

Lelouch had been returning from the nearby convenience store, twin bags of bursting candy slung over each shoulder. His breath was labored from the long walk and sleight weight.

The night was a denser sort of dark, a moonless condition illuminated faintly by occasional streetlights. A light wind grazed the trees. Occasional strangers walked across barren streets.

_Why am I getting candy? I'M not the one who lost the bet! _He fumed. The rain that was continuously hailing from the heavens did nothing to improve his mood.

Lelouch tilted his head to the sound of approaching footsteps.

A cloaked figure barged into Lelouch, shoving him into a nearby wall. Lelouch looked up in mild annoyance, catching a faint glimmer of identity through the hood.

"…. Suzaku?" Lelouch called. The figure froze momentarily, before drastically increasing their speed and vanishing in the distance.

Another person appeared behind, a blond male without a shirt and wearing swim trunks. "-WAIT UP DUDE! I JUST WANT TO TALK!" Lelouch unceremoniously stuck out a leg, tripping up the chaser. The man tumbled to the ground, skidding several feet across the slick asphalt before finally coming to a rest.

"Idiot." The blond scathed at Lelouch, before continuing the pursuit.

Lelouch shook his head as the figures became lost from sight. The expression Suzaku wore, marring his normally jovial features, prominently stayed in his mind.

Suzaku was in pain, and immensely so. It was an expression Lelouch had only seen one other time, when Suzaku's father, Genbu Kururugi, had died.

But of course he was in pain, as it was no little known fact that Euphemia was awfully close to her knight.

M_aybe something to be exploited. _He thought. _If I can get Euphemia to talk to him…_

Mid scheming, Lelouch's thought process was interrupted by the sight of a pink haired figure being hauled into the alley.

_Fuck._

_SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO STAY IN THE HOUSE! _

He dropped his bags to the ground, sprinting to the dark behind the building. He paused a second to let his eyes adjust to the dark.

And there they were, a Japanese man, holding Euphemia in a chokehold.

"LET HER GO!" He shouted. He flared his Geass as the man turned around to look at him. The man stopped his movements, caught in his power.

_So many things to do to this man…. _He thought darkly, before sighing despondingly. _But_…. he's _Japanese. It doesn't excuse his actions, not even close, but his life has most likely ben nothing but hardships._

"**GO HOME AND FORGET OF TONIGHT." **The man blinked twice before turning on his heel and walking out of the darkened alley.

After he left, Lelouch turned back towards the victim. "Hey, Euphemia, are you-"

It wasn't Euphemia.

The person standing before him was shorter, and held herself with an air of cool confidence completely alien to the Princess he knew. She was wearing nothing but a short shirt and shorts that clung to her body in the rain.

But more disconcerting was her demeanor. Completely placid of known emotion. Her body posture was offhand, despite the fact that she had just escaped from a life threatening scenario. She turned her head towards Lelouch.

A look of recognition flashing before her expression.

_Oh, hell. _Lelouch thought.

The girl took a reluctant forward, eyes not moving from his face. "Lelouch…. Lelouch vi Britannia?"

From there, his evening only continued to decline.

* * *

Anya, had finally found something interesting.

Lelouch vi Britannia, before her in the flesh, of that there was no doubt. The similar posture, identical shape of cheekbones, the same striking eyes, they were all notable features that belonged in singular to the not-so-dead Prince of Britannia.

But, the feeling she had, it was more than that. She should've been skeptical, at the very least, at the idea that she had coincidentally run headfirst into someone of his caliber, on the FIRST night she had EVER spent in this country. Nevertheless, some hidden recess in her mind instantly threw the switch, removing all doubts that the man standing in front of her WAS the latent prince of Britannia.

And the fact that her words were obviously having an impact on him. He'd gone completely still, like a dear caught in the headlights.

…_or like an enemy Glascow stuck in front of the Mordred. _She thought. Lelouch sudden twisted around, regaining his confident posture. His features manipulated into a look of confusion.

_And just like that, he puts his mask back on. _Anya observed.

"Who? I'm sorry, you must have me confused with someone else. You must still be in shock from-" Anya marched straight towards Lelouch, striking the upside of his head and grabbing him comically by his collar.

She brought his shocked face within three inches of her own.

"Lelouch vi Britannia. Seventeenth prince of Britannia. Mother, Marianne vi Britannia, assassinated by an unknown assailant on February 8th, 2010 of the imperial calendar. Sister, Nunnally vi Britannia, blinded and crippled in the attack. Exiled to Japan after confronting the Emperor." She stopped for a breath.

"Assumed dead in the aftermath of the Japan Invasion."

She stopped there, both knight and prince remaining motionless in stagnant observance. Lelouch's eyes had narrowed, focusing intensely on her gaze.

He coughed a bit and hardened his tone. "I don't know who you are, or how you've come across this information. But now, **OBEY ALL OF MY ORDERS!**"

Anya's eyes flicked upwards with vague surprise as a red gleam appeared in purple eyes. The light expanded outwards, increasing in size and density as flowed forward and-

* * *

Lelouch watched with sure confidence as the orders touched her eyes. Underneath though, his mind was spilling with questions.

_HOW does this girl know who I am? Where did she come from? WHO IS-_

"Interesting lightshow, prince Lelouch. The trick was better the first time, though." Lelouch's body went rigged at the flat voice.

His eyes instantly went back to the girl .The Geass appeared to have no effect on her, no tell-tale concentric rings surrounding her irises, no drop in stance and voice.

_I keep track of everyone that I've used Geass on, and this girl is DEFFINITLEY not one of them!_

"Why…. WHY are you unaffected by my Geass?" He asked, voice panicked now. If she had immunity, it could very well be she'd been sent SPECIFICALLY to deal with a Geass user.

He squirmed against her hold, to no effect. _The strength of a soldier. She's caught me… she's identified me, and if I'm turned in, I'll lead them straight to Nunnally! _

Anya, in truth, had no idea why Lelouch had sudden decided this moment to begin flailing about madly. She watched with an amused expression as he strained against her arms, now pinning his body head first against the wall.

_Oh, I suppose I need to know WHY a prince of Britannia would be hiding out…_Anya thought.

She momentarily released her grip. "Prince Lelouch, why-"

Lelouch snapped an elbow into her stomach, driving out the air from her body in surprise. She'd already assessed his physical abilities to be well below average, but had underestimated the feral desperation in his eyes.

She collided with the back wall as her query jumped the corner. She immediately straightened to pursue..

_Oh no, I'm not losing you. Not when things are finally getting interesting._

* * *

Lelouch sprinted down the empty street, jarring trash cans and other objects in his haste. Despite his adrenaline filled movements, he could still see the pink haired girl behind him, quickly gaining.

"Dammit! Why can't my enemies ever be out of shape!" He rounded the street corner, running through a pack of Britannian schoolboys.

"**Subdue the girl chasing me!**" He growled once. The group automatically shifted to a dreamlike state.

_3….2…1…._

The girl flew around the corner. Before she could react, the punches began to fly as the pack completely surrounded their target.

"Nice." Lelouch said, taking a right and completely ducking out of sight. He continued his pace for another three blocks, only slowing to a walk when he was sure that he'd lost her.

"Who… who was that girl?" He panted. He walked a wide birth around the Tokyo Settlement, cautiously making sure that he had lost her before returning to Ashford.

If was midnight when he finally returned to the school grounds.

* * *

Anya peered at Lelouch from the rooftop of a nearby building, watching as he quickly entered the open doorway.

"The Ashford Academy. Run by the Ashford Family, known supporters of Lady Marianne." She deftly considered the building before her.

"Interesting." She said once, before vanishing in the black.

**A/N: Good MONDAY one and all! **

**Taking in your thoughts, and my own plan to what I wanted this story to look like, the pairing will most likely be Lelouch x C.C.. I think Anya x Lelouch could've been interesting, but frankly, I couldn't figure out a way to run with the idea. **

**There was some reviews that disclosed how Euphemia's reaction was too severe, because of her character and how she is portrayed in the series. Honestly, I think that's an even larger motivation to the way she acts out. I mean, Euphemia's considered one of the most innocent, caring character in the entire series. When Euphemia is finally confronted with the horrible outcome of the SAZ, AND the fact she's indirectly to blame, I imagined that she'd be an inch from snapping.**

**Oh, and my misspelling of Sayoko as Sayoto... well, I've been watching a lot of Higurashi no naku koro ni lately :D**

**And yes, I understand that _Risk _doesn't quite work that way in real life. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Ashford Academy**

**7: 50 AM**

**Thursday**

Lelouch blundered his way through Ashford Academy, heavily conscious of his tired self. He had worked himself in a frenzy, staying up all night to discern the identity of the pink haired girl. The four other members in the house had been less then pleased with the returns of hi excursion, but had been a bit more understanding when he explained the situation.

That the gig was up. Any moment now, soldiers could hack through the Ashford's ceramic windows, bearing down on the school's population in an effort to search for the missing prince. Of course there were countermeasures, by way of knockout gas threaded through the entire ventilation system, but it made the threat no less real.

And he couldn't shake the feeling that something was familiar about this girl…..

"Hey Lelouch!" A friendly voice called. Shirley slipped in from behind and gave him a small peck on his cheek. She grabbed his hand and continued to walk with him, side by side. "How you feeling today?"

Lelouch blinked once, before recalling that the two of them were still technically in the field of dating.

He slipped an empty smile that few would recognize.

"Pretty good. Caught some nasty virus over the weekend, but I believe it's out of my system."

"Well, that's good. I was beginning to worry, you know." Shirley stared at him with bright eyes. Lelouch almost laughed at her concern, the unpaired, unrealistic ability of it all, a contrast to the twisted caucavers of reality.

"Thanks, Shirley." He stated simply. Both of them continued towards their respective classrooms, Shirley commenting about all that she had missed, and Lelouch reacting with a few choice words.

He put a hand inside his pocket and found something sticky. His smile and voice didn't wane as he gently lifted it out, and expected the substance out of the corner of his eye.

_Pizza. Why, the HELL, is PIZZA IN MY POCKET. _He cursed under his breath. Of course there was only one person who would've done it.

C.C.

These days, he didn't know what to make of her. She acted out in a bizarre fashion, more than once showing her emotional side. Just yesterday, she had exploded over the fact that breakfast had been made for the four of them, and not her.

Of course he'd done his best to explain that in the last months HE'D NEVER SEEN HER EAT ANYTHING BUT PIZZA. But she wouldn't take it, and he promptly took another beating from a female.

And just when he had begun to see her differently….

The couple turned the corner and came face to face with Milly. Her arms were crossed as blue eyes bore down on Lelouch, normal flippant expression replaced by one of intensity.

She darted forward and grabbed Lelouch's arm. "Sorry Shirley, gotta talk to your man for a bit." Before he could react, she was already shoving him forward. He was hauled halfway across campus before stopping in the middle of an empty soccer field.

_Again, with the being overpowered by girls! _

"Geez, what the hell was that for!" Lelouch asked, only to stop when the seriousness of her expression didn't change.

"Lelouch…. are you okay?" She asked. "How are you handling… their deaths?"

It took a second for the words to register.

_That's right, Milly would ask that. _Of his student friends, she was the only to know of the close relationship that he had with Euphemia and Cornelia. And the fact that he was a prince at all, for that matter.

He slumped his stance in an expected sort of misery. "Well, I'm taking it all right. Nunnally's doing about the same. It really came as a shock, I mean-"

Milly slapped him sharply. He was sent sprawling backwards from the blow, landing haphazardly in the mood.

"You know what, forget it Lelouch." She turned to leave. "I've known you for your entire life. It's fine in public, but don't you work this BS when it's just you and me."

"W-wait! Milly!"

"If you want to talk, you know where to find me."

With that, one Milly Ashford left a shocked Britannian Price midfield, just as the first tardy bell rung.

* * *

**Britannia Military Compound**

**9:30 PM**

Suzaku sighed as he retired to his room, spent from the day's work. It had been one trial to another, as higher ranking Britannian officers found every slight reason to make his life worse.

After all, that number filth didn't have his guardian Princess looking out for him anymore.

In between all the tasks he'd been assigned, he barely found the time to attend combat practice in the _Lancelot_. It didn't matter that he was the best pilot in the facility; to everyone but Cecile and Loyd, he was nothing more than mud.

He brought an arm up to his neck and sighted his movements from the stout mirror sitting opposite.

A hollow ghost stared back. A man with deep bags under tired eyes. Hair tussled and matted in elaborate knots, black uniform, smudged and sullied. The man's posture was slumped in defeated persecution.

_Maybe… maybe I should've taken up his offer. _He thought silently, dully thinking back to yesterday's events.

* * *

Suzaku had been given a day off, more as a forgotten detail then an act of kindness.

He had spent it at a black table, eyes piercing the emptiness of the chair opposite of him.

Small Corner Coffee. It was a quaint coffee shop, a small amenity of peace in the bustling Tokyo Settlement. Hour after hour, Suzaku had ordered coffee, over and over again. He poured it into the flowerbox when no one was looking.

Because this coffee shop was of a greater whole, the day he first meet Euphemia li Britannia. Back then it was easy, he was an aspiring soldier, and she, the beautiful girl who fell from the sky. They had come here after he'd shown her the Settlement's shopping and working district, both laughing at her wild antics.

"_Hey Suzaku? What do you call a sheep with no legs?"_

His hands tightened on the cup.

"_A cloud!" _

It shattered in his hand, raining coffee-mixed shards of glass to the ground. He stared at his bloody hands with a sense of stagnant numbness. Drops of red joined the smudged brown on the floor.

"What's your problem? You dumb or some'tin?" A waitress of sizable proportions walked up to the table, scowling profusely. She had set her hands wide on her hips, and was glaring steadily.

"All you been doing is sitting here all day and dumpin' your coffee to the flowers. Yeah, I've watched you do it. All day, in fact. And I finally understand who you are-"

She bent to make level eye contact with Suzaku. "You're a deadbeat, Eleven! SO IF YOU CAN'T PAY-" The waiter raised a fist. "GET THE HELL OUT OF-"

A pale hand grabbed the waiter's hand. "Hey, Suzaku. Sorry I'm late, traffic and the such." Suzaku blinked momentarily at the golden haired boy in front of him. The kid was about his age, and was wearing a white shirt with pink green swim trunks. Following him was an air of high nobility.

He handed a green card to the waiter. "Here, this should pay for all the drinks my friends been having." As the waiter left, swearing something obscene about Elevens, the blond promptly took the seat opposite of Suzaku.

They both sat in silence. The blond lazily slurped up the new coffee placed on the table.

"Who.. are you? How do you know my name" Suzaku asked, hesitantly. The other boy simply smiled. The hesitance turned to icy fire. "Fine then. I didn't need your help. That seat's taken. So get fuck out."

The maddening smile only increased. Suzaku felt his fists ball at his sides in anger.

_He gets the hell out of here, or else. I'm not taking this crap, not today._

Just as Suzaku reached the peak of his anger, the boy spoke. "Fine, Kururugi. Allow me to introduce myself." The blond stood up and bowed low in an extravagant fashion.

"Gino Weinberg, Knight of 3, at your service." He burped loudly, distorting the effect of his words. "Sorry, just had some beans for dinner-"

Suzaku was already out of the door, hood drawn over his head.

"Bloody hell, he left me with the check!" Gino spun out of the chair and made a dash for the door.

"Stop man!" He burped again. "I don't need this exercise today!"

Suzaku didn't turn in his response. "Don't both asking, my answer is no!"

"How do you know what I'm going to ask? What if I'm offering you a billion dollars? A beach house with babes? If you don't stop then-"

"MY ANSWER IS NO!"

Suzaku turned once and felt rain splatter against his neck. The individual splotches turned into a plate of coolness as the tempo increased.

"I JUST WANT TO TALK!"

_This guy just won't give up! _Suzaku spared a glance behind him, annoyed that the distance between the two hadn't seemed to have increased or decreased in the slightest.

He ran headlong into a stranger, accidentally sending them sprawling. Under normal conditions, he would have stooped to offer assistance, a helping hand even if the Britannian didn't want it. But now, nothing was normal.

"Suzaku?" His world stopped at the sound of his name, spoken in a voice that he knew all too well.

_Le…Lelouch!_ The word was almost enough to make him turn around, to double back and help up his best friend. But he couldn't face him.

Because he had failed.

FAILED to stop the Black Knights before the Massacre. FAILED to prevent the deaths of thousands of Japanese. FAILED to protect Euphemia and Cornelia, the only family besides Nunnally, in the world, that Lelouch had ever expressed love towards.

Suzaku knew Lelouch wouldn't blame him for happened, but the shame weighed heavily on his chest.

So he continued along his tumultuous path, not casting a backwards look towards his oldest friend.

Three blocks later, he took a sparing glance across his shoulder.

_Did I lose him? Where'd he-_

Two Knight Policemen sprung out of the shadows and tackled him to the ground. They fastened a pair of handcuffs past his wrist, holding him face down in the accumulating mud.

"HEY! You can take those off, I just told you to stop him! Not brutalize the man!" Suzaku turned towards the sound of Gino's voice. The pressure lessened off of his back, though both officers remained in close proximity to Suzaku. He sat in an upright position and wiped the mud off his face.

Gino took a seat next to him, leaning against the wall. "Sorry about that. Still getting used to this 'prejudice against Elevens' thing."

"Anyway, the point is that I want to ask you-"

"NO."

"See, this is the shit that gets me angry. You don't even KNOW what I'm trying to offer here! This is a chance of a LIFETIME!" He stated, exasperated. "I mean, why not just hear me out?"

Suzaku waited a bit, then sighed. "You're going to ask me if I'll join the Knight of the Rounds, to replace the recently deceased Knight of 9."

"….."

" Well fine, maybe you do know what I'm going to ask. But how is this a bad thing? You'd be moving up in the world, having nearly all the advantages of the highest nobility. And if you don't think you deserve it, think again. I've seen you and the _Lancelot _in combat, and you're already tenfold better than Luciano!"

Suzaku adjusted his position to tuck in a single leg. He thought a bit before responding.

"No, that's not it. As a Knight of the Rounds, your duty is not subject to a single area. Rather, you monitor the entirety of the Britannian Empire. I can't afford that, not now. Before I rise to that level, I first need to resolve things in Japan."

Gino stared at Suzaku incredulously. "You thing you can CHANGE the system like this? With your current rank and how you're treated, I'd consider SURVIVING the year to be an accomplishment."

"Nevertheless, that is my path. It's the very least I can do for Euphemia."

Gino was slightly taken aback by the final statement. _Ah, that makes sense now. Rumor had it that the Princess and her knight shared a rather close bond._

_Suzaku Kururugi is staying in this hell, for her.._

He nodded and stood, beckoning for the guards to leave.

"Very well, I can see that your mind had been made up." A hand reached into a pocket and took out a crumpled sheet of paper. He handed it off to Suzaku. "But should you ever change your mind, you can call this line….."

* * *

"I could be…. a Knight of the Round." He whispered. For a second, he let his mind wander along the paths of that future. Outfitted in white, cape flowing behind him. Being respected as a member of the greatest-

_No_

_I have to bring an end to this madness in Japan, BEFORE I move on to wider prospects._

The door suddenly swung open, making Suzaku jump up to attention instantly..

"At ease, Kururugi." The officer stated open naturally, without any spite or malice. Obviously one of the few people who disregarded ethnicity in soldiers. "You have a video call, waiting for you. Some higher up general confirmed it for you. Follow me to the room."

_A video call…. from who? _He racked his mind, but still could not find anyone who would want to contact him.

Suzaku stepped forward, right behind the officer. They walked for several minutes, twisting down a multitude of hallways and then backtracking a different direction. The pair finally arrived at a solid steel door, etched with the number one.

"Sorry for the delay, but I was given explicit orders to make sure we weren't followed." He tapped in a code on the keyboard to the left. "This is the highest level communications room. Soundproofed, bug swept, and a ton of extra junk to encrypt the signal. It was even used by Viceroy Cornelia a couple times."

The officer stood aside as the door swung open with a swish. "The call should connect automatically after your identity is confirmed."

Suzaku stepped into the dark room. The steel barricade closed behind him, plunging the room into a pitch black darkness. One by one, the surrounding lights blinked on, casting pale rays onto the forward console. The screens surrounding him remained blank, save for a green lit screen with a single phrased question on it;

"WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THE COFFEE SHOP?"

Suzaku froze his movements.

* * *

Euphemia fidgeted in her seat nervously, eyes anchored to the screen in front of her. The display showed a mirror version of what Suzaku was seeing, if Cornelia's message had gone through properly. When Suzaku began typing the passcode, she'd know instantly.

Her eyes occasionally flicked to Cornelia and Lelouch, who were standing to the side, just out of sight from the camera.

It had been Lelouch's idea to get her into touch with Suzaku, though she had originally been planning the call since the second night after the SAZ. But she had selfishly shoved off the call, day after day, because of her own anxiety and fear.

_Because, I'll have to tell him that I'm now a Black Knight. _She thought nervously._ The ones that HE thinks are solely responsible, for ALL of this death. _

Beyond her thoughts, another voice edged in. _But why should YOU care what Mr. Goody Two Shoes thinks? It won't matter, anyway, whether he accepts you or not!_

_But… it's Suzaku! The first person, ever, to truly believe in my dreams!_

_So WHAT. Does a MASS MURDERER really care about what others think of her? _Euphemia winced at that proclamation, earning her a concerned look from Cornelia. Euphemia waved it off and gave a smile, turning her attention back towards the screen.

"_Try to convince him to see, once and for all, that Britannia CAN'T be changed from within…"_

Those had been Lelouch's instructions. Though she could see the strategic use of a pilot of Suzaku's magnitude, she mostly took note of the tremor in Lelouch's voice, the underlaying fear of the eventual confrontation between him and his best friend

So she'd try her best, for both of their sakes.

_Who CARES? War is war, emotion doesn't factor-_

The light indicator blinked green. As letters began scrolling across the screen, typed by an invisible hand.

"SMALL CORNER-"

* * *

"-COFFEE." Suzaku finished. His right index finger hovered over the enter switch, hesitant over the next course of action. Inside, a blaze of acrid smog tipped and rolled, spewing nonsense and disjoined words. But a single thought prevailed over the rest.

_Is Euphemia alive? Do I dare to hope? I…._

"-I have to know." He depressed the key. The screen flashed blue twice before fading to black. Gradually, a new image replaced the nothing.

Euphemia.

The soft face and pink hair. Bright eyes and open posture. It was her, and she was ALIVE.

"Hey, Suzaku." She said brightly. The tone, was hers. Two simple words that erased all doubt from his mind that indeed, this was Euphemia.

Suzaku felt a wave of cool, blessed relief mount his variegated thoughts as he broke out the first honest smile in days.

With her alive, he could afford to dream again.

"Hey…. Hey Euphy."

They sat quiet for another minute. Suddenly, Suzaku's mind scrambled to the consequences of her livelihood.

_If Britannia said they were assassinated, yet they're still alive…._

_If she's alive, but not returning to Britannia…..._

_If she's not returning to Britannia, is it possible that they aren't safe in the Empire?_

He chose his next words carefully. "Euphemia, what happened at the SAZ?"

She dumped her smile instantly at the mention. Pink eyes took on a hard, cool look.

"The SAZ was carried out with two objectives. The crippling of the Black Knights, and the genocide of Japanaese. Britannia tried to have me assassinated, as a further initiative. They then took the moment to single handedly wipe out all the Japanese present in the area-"

_IMPOSSIBLE! That can't be true…_

"- as well as blaming the Black Knights for the entire event. This would cut off their support and resources, while also turning the people against them. At the end of the day, only the objective of crippling the Black Knights was accomplished. The actions of my sister resulted in over 40% of the Japanese making it out alive."

Suzaku felt a frigid wave extrapolate from his center, rolling outwards in waves of ice. _She said 40% were saved, so that's 60% killed. But I SAW the bodys, I WAS THERE WHEN THEY COUNTED THE CORPSES. The number was at least 95%, of everyone present._

_So where did they get the extra bodies? _Suzaku bit his lip silently, feeling queasy from the revelation.

"Euphemia, where are you now? Tell me, and I'll go to your location!" He stated.

"Suzaku… you'd come to help me?" She asked, words carefully laid out. Her expression was unreadable.

"Of course, Euphy. You, I'd follow to the ends of the world."

At those words, Euphemia looked back at Suzaku with tear streaked relief. "Suzaku, thank you. Your support means, more than you know." She wiped back the drops. "Currently, I'm in the Black Knights' Submarine."

Suzaku's smile lay plastered to his face, now artificial.

_Black Knights. _

_She's with the Black Knights! _His perception slanted, coming to arms with a twisted sort of logic.

_Her story, the accusations against Britannia, it all finally makes sense! _He stood up urgently, knocking over the chair.

"Euphemia, GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" He shouted. "Zero, and the other Black Knights, THEY ARE NOT TO BE TRUSTED!"

"…. what? Suzaku, what do you mean?" She asked, with a quizzical expression. Her eyes briefly twitched to an unseen corner of the room, before back to the monitor.

_They're watching her, even now! _

"You can't stay with the Black Knights. They are dishonest, cowardly, and will do anything to win! Since they're formation, they've caused nothing but terror and panic. FEAR AND DEATH."

"But… Suzaku, they're trying to do good! They saved-"

"NO EUPHEMIA! YOU CANNOT BELIEVE ANYTHING THAT THEY ARE TELLING YOU!" He flung his fist against the desktop. His calculated expressions of hidden emotion fractured in the worst way.

"ZERO IS MANIPULATING YOU, HE'S GOING TRYING TO USE YOUR POSITION FOR HIS OWN SELFISH GAIN! WHEN THIS IS ALL OVER, WHEN IT'S ALL SAID AND DONE, HE'LL THROW YOU AWAY LIKE TRASH!"

The words loomed in the air for a solid moment. Euphemia had turned downwards, hiding her expression from sight.

Suzaku rapidly scanned the corners of the room. _Are they going to try to cut off the transmission?_

_But no, that would just seek to turn her against them. _He let himself smirk smugly. _I'm finally one step in front of Zero._

"But what about Saitama?" The whisper was low and raspy. It took a second for Suzaku to realize that the voice belonged to Euphemia. "What about Shinjuku? Was Zero fully to blame for both of those incidents?"

Suzaku nodded unhesitatingly. "If he had just followed the status quo, decided to LIVE his life like the rest of us-"

"Fuck you, Suzaku."

Suzaku's mind froze, literally caving under the presence of those words. Even after the reached his ears, it took an extra second of comprehension for the full effect.

_Did Euphemia, did Euphemia, DID EUPHEMIA JUST SWEAR AT ME?_

Eupheia took the opportunity to press her outburst.

"What about the forced requital of Area 7? Five thousand casualties. The Mob Panic in New York? Fifteen thousand. And what of the forced repression of Africa? Eighteen thousand deaths!"

He simply sat there in his shock, letting the numbers roll over his head. Every dark Britannian moment within the last five years, every monstrous action.

"Did Zero decide to murder the SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND HUMAN BEINGS that lived in those ghettoes? THE MILLION THAT SHOWED UP TO AT THE SAZ?" She roared.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY JAPANESE ARE STILL LIVING?" Suzaku looked it up at her exclamation. "

"Before the second Great Pacific War, before the invasion of Japan, the forced oppression, there were approximately 130 MILLION JAPANESE." Her voice sunk to a lethal coolness. "Do you know, have you even bothered to look, exactly HOW many of them there are left?"

Suzaku shook his head slowly, an unconscious answer to her prompt.

"20 MILLION!" She roared, jumping up and bearing down on Suzaku with feral anger.

_TWENTY MILLION? Good god…. _Suzaku mind slipped asunder the horrifying number. "God…. 130 million, to 20 million…. that's over-"

"85 percent." Euphemia finished. "It means that four, out of every five Japanese alive BEFORE the invasion, IS DEAD."

Suzaku watched, stunned for the third time that day. Four out of five… FOUR OUT OF FIVE DEAD….. numbers like that bordered on genocide!

But Suzaku set his teeth feverously. _But of that number, how many of those deaths were indirectly, or directly, linked to the Black Knights? _

_And who feed her this information?_

The obvious answer slapped him in the face. _It's from the Black Knights. This information, has assuredly been falsified._

_But this explanation, it doesn't explain the change in Euphemia's behavior. _He briefly stared at Euphemia's face. Lines drawn, features heavy and laden with lead. The expression, that, only days before, had been filled to the brink with hope, had now become visibly sunken with dank despair.

And the anger of the kind he'd never seen before. A manifestation of devlish fire that flared and snapped with fangs and claws. It leaked out of her eyes and skin, inducing madness. Yet in the pits was something else. A source of toxicity, spewing darkness into her being.

Guilt.

"EUPHEMIA." His tone was low, but encumbered with authority. Euphemia clammed up instantly, despite herself. The voice he had used, it had never been raised against her.

"Do you feel like, you're to blame… for the massacre?"

That got a visible reaction out of the Princess. Her entire frame curved downwards as she brought legs up to her chest. Her arms tightly clutched at her legs. Eyes closed, forcefully shut as tears leaked out of the sides.

Suzaku watched the love of his life inwardly tear at herself. His appearance bereted true sympathy, and shared pain for the girl who fell from the sky.

"Euphemia…. you're not to blame for this. You couldn't know this would have happened, it's simply not possible." He then affixed a hopeful smile. "And you acted out of compassion and sincerity, selflessly, to immediately help those less fortunate then yourself. You put your life and soul on the line for others, no one can fault you for that."

From beneath the swathe of unfurled hair, he saw her eyes raise slightly at his words. Her arms and legs had lost the urgent grip. He quickly continued.

"If it was anyone, it was the Black Knights who-"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" Suzaku's blood ran a silvery cold, an inhuman laugh swelling through the room and out the speakers. Had he been paying more attention, he'd would've caught sight of two shadows at the edge of the transmission that jumped at the pronouncement. Euphemia had raised her face to Suzaku, body still tucked into a ball on the chair.

Her features, were of insanity. The pupils were dilated wide, opened to their largest degree. They roamed around the room, seeing nothing. Frenzied. Predatorial. Her grinning mouth was open and spewing delirium.

_Her countenance…. just like a mad Harpie of mythology.._

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! OH, that's GREAT. My, isn't that just GRAND? Britannia's white knight, keenly passing the blame towards someone else." Euphemia had reached with her arms, cupping her face with mock sincerity. "And all because you, you with your puppy face, can't bear to imagine that they were wrong.

The words hung in the air, and Suzaku felt a spike of anger. "NO! Euphemia, you have NO IDEA what you're talking about-"

"OH, DO I?" She asked, expression leery and off tilter. "Do I have to lay it out for you? Suzaku Kururugi, the man working to change the system from WITHIN. Honroable, so honorable."

She rotated in her chair, until her entire body was upside down. Her head suspended across the chair's legs.

"You've stooped, you've taken the abuse and kissed all the right shoes. And you told yourself that it was ALL done with justification, so your dream could become reality."

She held out two fingers, inverting them to portray a person walking upon the desk. "For years you've played this game, suffered every kind of abuse."

"And then, here comes Zero." Her other hand created another avatar. The two fingers walked up to Suzaku's representative. "The mighty, MIGHTY ZERO. He kills the one responsible for a massive killing, and then he goes out on rant to bring every crooked politician, any corrupt, bureaucrat, to justice."

"Pettitioning for CHANGE, contriving against the norms of the world, and he was SUCCEEDING. In a manner of months, he's inspired purpose in the eyes of a dying people. Helped instill a sense of security that an empire spanning A THIRD OF THE WORLD couldn't achieve. Do you know he's done?" Her eyes cocked to the left curiously.

"He's given people hope."

There was a brief juncture between words. Her smile widened.

"And I think, that this cute wittle dog, turned out to be a snake hiding behind a cute wittle puppy dog mask. And the snake bellied with jealousy and spite, because why should this dragon get the praise and happiness, for wasn't that what the snake was doing for all these years?"

"Stop it." Suzaku whispered.

"And oh no, no one ever thanked the snake! He was left trampled in the mud." She took notice of Suzaku's face and smiled wider. "Hey hey, here me out, here me out."

"I hypothesize that the snake…" She held out one clawed hand. "Would do absolutely ANYTHING, to kill the Dragon." She moved both of her hands by independent minds, imitating a fight between the two titans.

"Stop it, Euphemia!"

"And the SNAKE reared its fangs, and splurged the belly of the beast!" She hacked downwards with her left hand, leaving a jagged red slash behind on her right palm. "The SNAKE jumped on its prey, and wrapped its long torso around the dragon-"

"-And began to squeeze." She grasped her wrist intensively, leaving behind purple bruises. "AND THE SNAKE KNOWS, THAT GIVEN THE CHANCE, HE WOULD KILL AND KILL AND KILL AND KILL NOT JUST BECAUSE OF HIS ANGER-"

"SHUT UP!" Suzaku cried. With a startling forward motion, Suzaku took lifted his chair, and smashed in the screen, though not in time to stop the final words.

"BUT BECAUSE, FRANKLY, IT IS HIS NATURE….." The screen powered down, dropping the transmission automatically.

Suzaku was left panting at the empty monitor. He swayed from side to side, then slumped against the right wall. "God, I didn't want this! I DIDN'T WANT THIS!"

A bloodied fist was raised towards the ceiling. "What she said, those words, IT'S NOT ME! IT'S NOT ME! IT'S NOT ME! IT'S NOT ME! IT'S….. NOT….. me…"

His voice ended in a light flicker. The frayed computer wires blinked solemnly in the gloom as Suzaku sat, legs drawn to his chest.

_The Black Knights…. Zero…. Zero….. ZERO! _His eyes took on a livid glare or omniscient anger.

"Euphemia…. what… what did Zero do to you?!"

The door swiped open with a small hum, light pooling into the darkened room. A single, short silhouette was barely perceptible.

"Suzaku Kururugi." The voice was child like in its tone, yet frigid in its presence.

"Would you like to know why, Euphemia is acting like that?" Brown eyes bent down to look Suzaku in the eyes.

"Would you like to know….. Zero's power?"

**A/N: Heyo! Happy HALLOWEEN WEEK folks!**

**I apologize, but I will not be uploading a new chapter in the next week, for two reasons. One, last week was so busy and everything, I couldn't finish up the next chapter. Also, I wrote with some BIG MISTAKES in the logical flow. So, I've got to finish that first. **

**My second reason, is a review I got from one 'Complete Critic', who wrote a small amount of what I should fix, mainly the grammar and the character's personalities. So my goal in the next week, is to fix the errors, and the character flaws, before moving forward. Probably won't be any big fixes, but I do agree that Cornelia and Euphemia's allegiance changed way too fast to be believable. The reasons behind their change is there, but should probably be explored a bit more.**

**Just a question, are these strong enough reasons for C and E's change in allegiance?**

**Euphemia - Seeing a massacre of such a caliber up close, being slightly to blame for it (it should be noted that Britannin, in the universe of this story, has never done anything of this scale.)**

**Cornelia - Seeing Euphemia in danger. Living outside the system, as long as Britannia exists, both she and Euphemia will be in constant danger of being recognized, and then of having assassins sent after them to finish the job. Living inside the system, as long as Britannia exists, they will run the danger of being back stabbed by the Royal Council, who, I just realized, I should also mention more often outside of the first chapter. **

**Good news is that my highschool is taking pity on us sophmores, and I'm looking at a week with much less homework. So I should have more than enough time to get everything done. Except on Thursday, where I'll have to be on door duty for trick-or-treaters. **

**Have a haypp Haloween :D**


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